UC-NRLF 


EMO    SOS 


WANTED 

AYOUNGWOMANTODO 

HOUSEWORK 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


AUTOMOBILE  FRENCH.     12MO.     CLOTH. 

$1.00  NET. 
A  new  and  revised  edition. 

All  owners  of  automobiles  and  all  travelers  in 
France  will  find  this  little  handbook  of  much 
value.  Each  page  gives  a  vocabulary  and  a  few 
short  sentences  that  are  most  useful  to  those  who 
are  compelled  to  speak  French. 

A  special  feature  of  this  book  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  words  and  modern  terms,  hitherto  unpub- 
lished in  English  and  French  text  books,  relating 
to  the  army,  navy,  aeroplanes,  and  especially  to 
automobiles. 

MOFFAT  YARD  &  COMPANY 


WANTED 

A  Young  Woman  to  Do 

HOUSEWORK 


BUSINESS  PRINCIPLES  APPLIED 
TO  HOUSEWORK 

By 
C.  HELENE  BARKER 

Author  of '"Automobile  French" 


NEW  YORK 

MOFFAT,  YARD  &  COMPANY 
1917 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
C.  HELENE  BARKER 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 

Second  Printing 


W.   F.   BRAINARO 

IOOK    MANUFACTURE)! 
NEW    TO*K 


PEEFACE 

This  little  book  is  not  a  treatise  on  Domestic 
Science.  The  vacuum  cleaner  and  the  fireless 
cooker  are  not  even  mentioned.  The  efficient 
kitchen  devised  in  such  an  interesting  and  clever 
way  has  no  place  in  it.  Its  exclusive  object  is 
to  suggest  a  satisfactory  and  workable  solution 
along  modern  lines  of  how  to  get  one's  house- 
work efficiently  performed  without  doing  it  one's 
self. 

If  the  propositions  that  she  advances  seem  at 
first  startling,  the  writer  begs  only  for  a  patient 
hearing,  for  she  is  convinced  by  strong  reasons 
and  abundant  experience,  that  liberty  in  the 
household,  like  social  and  political  liberty,  can 
never  come  except  from  obedience  to  just  law. 

C.  H.  B. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

CAUSES  OF  THE  PRESENT  UNSATISFACTORY  CONDITION 
OF  DOMESTIC  LABOR 

PAGE 

Ignorance  and  Inefficiency  in  the  Home 1 

Difficulty  of  Obtaining  Women  to  Do  Housework  .      .      .11 
The  Disadvantages  of  Housework  Compared  with  Work  in 

Factories,   Stores,   and   Offices 19 

PART  II 
BUSINESS  PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  HOUSEWORK 

Living  Outside  Place  of  Employment 31 

Housework  Limited  to  8  Hours  a  Day 47 

Housework  Limited  to  6  Days  a  Week 61 

The  Observance  of  Legal  Holidays 75 

tra   Pay   for   Overtime 81 

PART  III 
EIGHT  HOUR  SCHEDULES  IN  THE  HOME 

Eight  Hour  Schedules  for  One  Employee 93 

Eight  Hour  Schedules  for  Two  Employees 109 

Eight  Hour  Schedules  for  Three  Employees 121 


PART  I 

CAUSES  OF  THE  PRESENT  UNSATISFAC- 
TORY CONDITION  OF  DOMESTIC  LABOR 

Ignorance  and  inefficiency  in  the  home. 
Difficulty  of  obtaining  women  to  do  housework. 
The  disadvantages  connected  with  housework  compared 
with  work  in  factories,  stores,  and  offices. 


IGNORANCE  AND  INEFFICIENCY  IN 
THE  HOME 


IGNORANCE  AND  INEI FICIENCY  IN  THE  HOME 

THE  twentieth-century  woman,  in  spite  of  her 
progressive  and  ambitious  theories  about  wom- 
an's sphere  of  activity,  has  allowed  her  house- 
keeping methods  to  remain  almost  stationary, 
while  other  professions  and  industries  have 
moved  forward  with  gigantic  strides. 

She  does  not  hesitate  to  blazon  abroad  with 
banners  and  pennants  her  desire  to  share  with 
man  the  responsibility  for  the  administration  of 
the  State,  but  she  overlooks  the  disquieting  fact 
that  in  the  management  of  her  own  household, 
where  her  authority  is  absolute,  she  has  failed  to 
convince  the  world  of  her  power  to  govern. )(, 
When  confronted  with  this  accusation,  she  as- 
serts that  the  maintenance  of  a  home  is  neither 
a  business  nor  a  profession,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence it  ought  not  to  be  compared  with  them 
nor  be  judged  by  the  same  standards. 

Is  it  not  due  perhaps  to  this  erroneous  idea 
1 


•*,    I  •  •*•**»••••• 

•••  •  ••*  •  *»«•  \  .*  *• 

rt ••'     • 


HOUSEWORK 


that  housekeeping  is  a  failure  to-day?  For  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  failure  cannot  be  hidden,  and 
that  it  has  been  a  failure  for  many  years  past 
is  equally  true.  Kecent  inventions,  and  labor 
saving  utensils,  have  greatly  facilitated  house- 
work, yet  housekeeping  is  still  accompanied  with 
much  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  employer 
and  the  employee. 

There  are  only  a  few  women  to-day  who  regard 
domestic  science  in  the  light  of  a  profession,  or 
a  business,  although  in  reality  it  is  both.  For 
what  is  a  profession  if  it  be  not  the  application 
of  science  to  life?  And  does  not  work  wrhich  one 
follows  regularly  constitute  a  business? 

Many  women,  however,  do  not  regard  house- 
keeping even  as  a  serious  occupation,  and  few 
have  devoted  as  much  time,  thought,  and  energy 
to  mastering  the  principles  of  domestic  economy 
as  of  late  years  women  of  all  classes  of  society 
have  willingly  given  to  the  study  of  the  rules  and 
ever  changing  intricacies  of  auction  bridge. 
Some  consider  their  time  too  valuable  to  devote 
to  domestic  and  culinary  matters,  and  openly 
boast  of  their  ignorance.  Outside  engagements, 


INEFFICIENCY  IN  THE  HOME  3 

pleasures,  philanthropic  schemes,  or  work,  mo- 
nopolize their  days,  and  the  conduct  of  the  house 
devolves  upon  their  employees.  The  result  is 
rarely  satisfactory.  It  is  essential  that  the 
woman  who  is  at  the  head  of  any  concern,  be  it  a 
business,  a  profession,  or  a  home,  should  not  only 
thoroughly  understand  its  every  detail,  but  in 
order  to  make  it  a  success  she  must  give  it  her 
personal  attention  each  day  for  at  least  a  portion 
of  her  time. 

It  is  a  popular  impression  that  the  knowledge 
of  good  housekeeping,  and  of  the  proper  care  of 
children,  comes  naturally  to  a  woman,  who, 
though  she  had  no  previous  training  t>r  prepara- 
tion for  these  duties,  suddenly  finds  them  thrust 
upon  her.  But  how  many  women  can  really 
look  back  with  joy  to  the  first  years  of  their 
housekeeping?  Do  they  not  remember  them 
more  with  a  feeling  of  dismay  than  pleasure? 
How  many  foolish  mistakes  occurred  entailing 
repentance  and  discomfort!  And  how  many 
heart-burnings  were  caused,  and  even  tears  shed, 
because  in  spite  of  the  best  intentions,  every- 
thing seemed  to  go  wrong?  And  why?  Simply 


4  nOUSEWOPJv 

because  of  ignorance  and  inefficiency  in  the  home, 
not  only  of  the  employee,  but  of  the  employer 
also. 

That  an  employee  is  ignorant  and  unskilled 
in  her  work  is  often  excusable,  but  there  is  ab- 
solutely no  excuse  for  a  woman  who  has  time 
and  money  at  her  command,  to  be  ignorant  of 
domestic  science,  when  of  her  own  free  will  she 
undertakes  the  responsibilities  of  housekeeping, 

Nearly  all  women  take  interest  in  the  furnish- 
ing of  their  homes,  and  give  their  personal  at- 
tention to  it  with  the  result  that  as  a  rule  they 
excel  in  household  decoration,  and  often  produce 
marvels  of  beauty  and  taste  with  the  expendi- 
ture of  relatively  small  amounts  of  money. 

Marketing  is  also  very  generally  attended  to 
in  person  by  the  housewife,  but  she  is  using  the 
telephone  more  and  more  frequently  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  personal  visit  to  butcher  and  grocer, 
and  this  is  greatly  to  her  disadvantage.  The 
telephone  is  a  very  convenient  instrument,  espe- 
cially in  emergency,  or  for  ordering  things  that 
do  not  vary  in  price.  But  when  prices  depend 
upon  the  fluctuations  of  the  market,  or  when  the 


INEFFICIENCY  IN  THE  HOME  5 

articles  to  be  purchased  are  of  a  perishable  na- 
ture, it  must  be  remembered  that  the  telephone 
is  also  a  very  convenient  instrument,  for  the  mer- 
chant, who  is  anxious  to  get  rid  of  his  bad  stock. 
The  remaining  branches  of  housekeeping  ap- 
parently do  not  interest  the  modern  housewife. 
She  entrusts  them  very  generally  to  her  em- 
ployees, upon  whose  skill  and  knowledge  she 
blindly  relies.  Unfortunately  skill  and  knowl- 
edge are  very  rare  qualities,  and  if  the  house- 
wife herself  be  ignorant  of  the  proper  way  of 
doing  the  work  in  her  own  home,  how  can  she 
be  fitted  to  direct  those  she  places  in  charge  of 
it,  or  to  make  a  wise  choice  when  she  has  to  se- 
lect a  new  employee?  Too  often  she  engages 
women  and  young  girls  without  investigating 
their  references  of  character  or  capability,  and 
Avhen  time  proves  what  an  imprudent  proceeding 
she  has  been  party  to,  she  simply  attributes  the 
consequent  troubles  to  causes  beyond  her  con- 
trol. If  the  housewife  were  really  worthy  of 
her  name  she  would  be  able  not  only  to  pick  out 
better  employees,  but  to  insist  upon  their  work 
being  properly  done.  To-day  she  is  almost 


6  HOUSEWORK 

afraid  to  ask  her  cook  to  prepare  all  the  dishes 
for  the  family  meals,  nor  does  she  always  find 
some  one  willing  to  do  the  family  washing.  She 
is  obliged  to  buy  food  already  cooked  from  the 
caterer  or  baker,  because  her  so-called  "  cook  " 
was  not  accustomed  to  bake  bread  and  rolls,  or 
to  make  pies  and  cakes,  or  ice  cream,  for  previous 
employers,  from  whom  nevertheless  she  received 
an  excellent  reference  as  cook.  Of  course  in 
cities  it  is  easy  to  buy  food  already  cooked  or 
canned  and  to  send  all  the  washing  to  the  laun- 
dry, but  it  helps  to  raise  the  "  high  cost  of  liv- 
ing "  to  alarming  proportions,  and  it  also  en- 
courages ignorance  in  the  most  important 
branches  of  domestic  economy. 

In  spite  of  the  "  rush  of  modern  life,"  a  woman 
who  has  a  home  ought  to  be  willing  to  give  some 
part  of  her  time  to  its  daily  supervision.  Eter- 
nal vigilance  is  the  price  of  everything  worth 
having.  If  she  gave  this  she  would  not  have 
so  many  tales  of  woe  to  relate  about  the  laziness, 
neglectfulness,  and  stupidity  of  her  cook  and 
housemaids.  There  is  not  a  single  housewife  to- 
day who  has  not  had  many  bitter  experiences. 


INEFFICIENCY  IN  THE  HOME  7 

One  who  desires  information  upon  this  subject 
has  only  to  call  on  the  nearest  friend. 

To  the  uninterested  person,  to  the  onlooker, 
the  helplessness  of  the  woman  who  is  at  the  head 
of  the  home,  her  inability  to  cope  with  her  do- 
mestic difficulties,  is  often  comic,  sometimes  pa- 
thetic, sometimes  almost  tragic.  The  publica- 
tions of  the  day  have  caricatured  the  situation 
until  it  has  become  an  outworn  jest.  The  pres- 
ent system  of  housekeeping  can  no  longer  stand. 
One  of  two  things  must  occur.  Either  the  house- 
wife must  adopt  business  principles  in  ruling 
her  household,  or  she  will  find  before  many  more 
Years  elapse  there  will  be  no  longer  any  woman 
willing  to  place  her  neck  under  the  domestic 
yoke. 

If  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  following  ,} 
pages  can  be  popularized  in  a  comprehensive  plan  j 
of  which  all  the  parts  can  be  thoroughly  under-  I 
stood  both  by  the  housewife  and  her  employee,  \ 
ignorance  and  inefficiency  in  the  home  will  be 
presently  abolished. 


DIFFICULTY  OF  OBTAINING  WOMEN 
TO  DO  HOUSEWOKK 


DIFFICULTY  OF  OBTAINING  WOMEN  TO  DO 
HOUSEWORK 

THE  present  unsatisfactory  condition  of  do- 
mestic labor  in  private  houses  is  not  confined  to 
any  special  city  or  country ;  it  is  universal.  \i 
Each  year  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  women  to 
do  housework  seems  to  increase  and  the  demand 
is  so  much  greater  than  the  supply,  that  ignorant 
and  inefficient  employees  are  retained  simply  be- 
cause it  is  impossible  to  find  others  more  com- 
petent to  replace  them. 

There  is  hardly  a  home  to-day  where,  at  one 
time  or  another,  the  housewife  has  not  gone 
through  the  unenviable  experience  of  being  finan- 
cially able  and  perfectly  willing  to  pay  for  the 
services  of  some  one  to  help  her  in  her  housekeep- 
ing duties,  and  yet  found  it  almost  impossible  to 
get  a  really  competent  and  intelligent  employee. 
As  a  rule,  those  who  apply  for  positions  in  house- 
work are  grossly  ignorant  of  the  duties  they  pro- 
fess to  perform,  and  the  well  trained,  clever,  and 

11 


12  HOUSEWORK 

experienced  workers  are  sadly  in  the  minority. 

Women  and  young  girls  who  face  the  necessity 
of  self  support,  or  who  wish  to  lead  a  life  of  in- 
dependence, no  longer  choose  housework  as  a 
means  of  earning  a  livelihood.  It  is  evident  that 
there  is  a  reason,  and  a  very  potent  one,  that  de- 
cides them  to  accept  any  kind  of  employment  in 
preference  to  the  work  offered  them  in  a  private 
home.  Wages,  apparently,  have  little  to  do  with 
their  decision,  nor  other  considerations  which 
must  add  very  much  to  their  material  welfare, 
such  as  good  food  in  abundance,  and  clean,  well 
ventilated  sleeping  accommodations,  for  these 
two  important  items  are  generally  included  at 
present  in  the  salaries  of  household  employees. 
Concessions,  too,  are  frequently  made,  and  fa- 
vors bestowed  upon  them  by  many  of  their  em- 
ployers, yet  few  young  girls,  and  still  fewer 
wromen  are  content  to  work  in  private  families. 

It  is  a  deplorable  state  of  affairs,  and  wromen 
seem  to  be  gradually  losing  their  courage  to 
battle  with  this  increasingly  difficult  question : 
How  to 'obtain  and  retain  one's  domestic  em- 
ployees? 


DIFFICULTY  OBTAINING  WOMEN  13 

The  peace  of  the  family  and  the  joy  aiid  com- 
fort of  one's  home  should  be  a  great  enough  in- 
centive to  awaken  the  housewife  to  the  realiza- 
tion that  something  must  be  wrong  in  her  pres- 
ent methods.  It  is  in  vain  that  she  complains 
bitterly,  on  all  occasions,  of  the  scarcity  of  good 
servants,  asserting  that  it  is  beyond  her  compre- 
hension why  work  in  factories,  stores,  and  offices, 
should  be  preferred  to  the  work  she  offers. 

Is  it  beyond  her  comprehension?  Or  has  she 
never  considered  in  what  way  the  work  she  offers 
differs  from  the  work  so  eagerly  accepted?  Does 
she  not  realize  that  the  present  laws  of  labor 
adopted  in  business  are  very  different  from  those 
she  still  enforces  in  her  own  home?  Why  does 
she  not  compare  housework  with  all  other  work 
in  which  women  are  employed,  and  find  out  why 
housework  is  disdained  by  nearly  all  self  sup- 
porting women? 

Instead  of  doing  this,  she  sometimes  avoids  the 
trouble  of  trying  to  keep  house  with  incompetent 
employees  by  living  in  hotels,  or  non-housekeep- 
ing apartments;  but  for  the  housewife  who  does 
not  possess  the  financial  means  to  indulge  herself 


J.4  HOUSEWORK 

thus,  or  who  still  prefers  home  life  with  all  its 
trials  to  hotel  life,  the  only  alternative  is  to  sub- 
mit to  pay  high  wages  for  very  poor  work  or 
to  do  a  great  part  of  the  housework  herself.  In 
both  cases  the  result  is  bad,  for  in  neither  does 
the  family  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of  home,  nor  is 
the  vexatious  problem,  so  often  designated  as  the 
"  Servant  question,"  brought  any  nearer  to  a  so- 
lution. 

The  careful  study  of  any  form  of  labor  invari- 
ably reveals  some  need  of  amelioration,  but  in 
none  is  there  a  more  urgent  need  of  reform  than 
in  domestic  labor  in  private  homes. 

It  is  more  for  the  sake  of  the  housewife  than 
for  her  employee  that  a  reform  is  to  be  desired. 
The  latter  is  solving  her  problem  by  finding  work 
outside  the  home,  while  the  former  is  still  un- 
duly harassed  by  household  troubles.  With  a 
few  notable  exceptions,  only  those  who  are  un- 
qualified to  compete  with  the  business  woman  are 
left  to  help  the  householder,  and  the  problem 
confronting  her  to-day  is  not  so  much  how  to 
change  inefficient  to  efficient  help,  but  how  to 
obtain  any  help  at  all. 


DIFFICULTY  OBTAINING  WOMEN  15 

The  spirit  of  independence  lias  so  deeply  en-  I 
tered  into  the  lives  of  women  of  all  classes,  that  ! 
until  housework  be  regulated  in  such  a  way  as 
to  give  to  those  engaged  in  it  the  same  rights 
and  privileges  as  are  granted  to  them  in  other 
forms  of  labor,  the  best  workers  will  naturally 
seek  employment  elsewhere. 


ler 
Hy 


THE  DISADVANTAGES  OF  HOUSEWORK 
COMPARED  WITH  WORK  IN  FACTO- 
RIES, STORES,  AND  OFFICES 


THE  DISADVANTAGES  OF   HOUSEWORK  COMPARED 

WITH   WORK  IN   FACTORIES,   STORES,  AND 

OFFICES 

HOUSEWORK,  when  carefully  compared  with 
work  performed  by  women  in  factories,  stores, 
and  offices,  shows  to  a  remarkable  degree  how 
many  old  fashioned  ways  of  conducting  her 
household  still  cling  to  the  modern  housewife. 
The  methods  that  made  housekeeping  a  success 
in  the  time  of  our  ancestors  are  not  adapted  to 
the  present  needs  of  a  society  in  which  women 
who  earn  their  own  living  are  occupying  so  much 
more  important  positions  than  formerly.  Large 
stores  and  factories,  requiring  the  cooperation 
of  many  employees,  have  done  more  to  open  new 
avenues  of  work  for  women  than  could  have  been 
dreamed  of  in  former  times,  when  it  was  the  cus- 
tom for  each  family  to  produce  at  home  as  much 
as  possible,  if  not  all,  that  was  necessary  for  its 
own  consumption. 

19 


-  „ 

20  HOUSEWORK 

Women,  as  a  rule,  are  not  taught  self  reliance, 
and  many  who  hesitate  to  leave  their  homes  to 
earn  a  livelihood,  find  that  by  doing  work  in 
stores,  factories,  or  offices,  they  are  not  utterly 
separated  from  their  families.  The  work  may 
be  harder  than  they  anticipated  and  the  pay 
small,  but  there  is  always  the  hope  of  promotion 
and  of  a  corresponding  increase  of  wages.  Busi- 
ness hours  are  frequently  long,  but  they  are  limi- 
ted, and  after  the  day's  work  is  over,  the  remain- 
der of  the  twenty-four  hours  is  at  the  disposal  of 
the  employees,  who  can  still  enjoy  the  happiness 
and  freedom  associated  with  the  life  of  their  own 
social  circle.  Besides  they  have  one  day  out  of 
seven  as  a  day  of  rest,  and  many  legal  holidays 
come  annually  to  relieve  the  overstrain. 

With  houseAvork  it  is  very  different.  The 
woman  who  accepts  the  position  of  a  household 
employee  in  a  private  home  must  usually  make 
up  her  mind  to  leave  her  family,  to  detach  her- 
self from  all  home  ties,  and  to  take  up  her  abode 
in  her  employer's  house.  It  is  only  occasionally, 
about  once  a  week  for  a  few  hours  at  a  time,  that 
she  is  allowed  to  make  her  escape.  It  is  a  recog- 


DISADVANTAGES  OF  HOUSEWORK        21 

nized  fact  that  a  change  of  environment  has  a 
beneficial  effect  upon  every  one,  but  a  domestic 
employee  must  forego  this  daily  renewal  of 
thought  and  atmosphere.  Even  if  she  does  not 
know  that  she  needs  it  in  order  to  keep  her 
mental  activities  alive,  the  result  is  inevitable: 
to  one  who  does  nothing  but  the  same  work 
from  early  morning  until  late  at  night  and  who 
never  comes  in  contact  with  the  outside  world 
except  four  times  a  month,  the  work  soon  sinks 
to  mere  drudgery. 

As  to  promotion  in  housework  it  seems  to  be 
almost  unknown.  Considering  the  many  re- 
sponsible positions  waiting  to  be  filled  in  private 
families,  nothing  could  be  more  desirable  than 
to  instil  into  one's  employees  the  ambition  to 
rise.  An  employee  who  has  passed  through  all 
the  different  branches  of  domestic  science,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  highest  in  one  family,  must  be 
far  better  fitted  to  occupy  the  highest  position 
in  that  family  than  one  who  applies  for  the  posi- 
tion with  the  training  and  experience  gained 
only  in  other  families  where  the  mode  of  living 
may  be  very  different.  Since  there  is  no  chance 


22  HOUSEWORK 

of  promotion  and  in  consequence  of  receiving 
better  pay,  the  domestic  employee  is  often 
tempted  to  seek  higher  wages  elsewhere,  and  thus 
the  desire  "  to  make  a  change,"  so  disastrous  to 
the  peace  of  mind  of  the  housewife,  is  engendered 
in  her  employees. 

In  domestic  labor  the  hours  of  work  are  longer 
than  in  any  other  form  of  employment,  for  they 
are  unlimited.  Moreover,  instead  of  having  one 
day  out  of  seven  as  a  day  of  rest,  only  half  a 
day  is  granted  beginning  usually  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  or  even  later.  And 
legal  holidays  bring  no  relief,  for  they  are  prac- 
tically unknown  to  the  household  employee.  The 
only  way  women  engaged  in  housework  in  pri- 
i  vate  families  can  obtain  a  real  holiday  is  by  be- 
ing suddenly  called  away  "  to  take  care  of  a  sick 
aunt."  There  is  an  old  saying  containing  cer- 
tain words  of  wisdom  about  "  all  work  and  no 
play  "  that  perhaps  explains  the  dullness  so  often 
met  with  in  domestic  help. 

The  hardest  thing  to  submit  to,  however,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  woman  employed  in 
housework,  is  the  lack  of  freedom  outside  of 


DISADVANTAGES  OF  HOUSEWORK        23 

working  hours.  This  prevents  her  from  taking 
part  in  her  former  social  life.  She  is  not  al-  ' 
lowed  to  go  out  even  for  an  hour  or  two  every 
day  to  see  her  relatives  and  friends.  To  ask 
them  to  visit  her  in  her  employer's  kitchen  is  not 
a  very  agreeable  alternative  either  to  herself  or 
her  employer,  and  even  then  she  is  obliged  to  be 
on  duty,  for  she  must  still  wear  her  uniform  and 
hold  herself  in  readiness  to  answer  the  bell  un- 
til the  family  for  whom  she  works  retires  for  the 
night. 

With  such  restrictions  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  majority  of  women  feel  that  they  are  los- 
ing "  caste  "  if  they  accept  positions  in  private  ; 
families.  There  are  two  more  causes  to  which 
this  feeling  of  the  loss  of  caste  may  be  attributed. 
One  is  the  habit  of  calling  household  employees 
by  their  first  name  or  by  their  surname  without 
the  prefix  of  "  Miss  " ;  the  other  is  the  custom  of 
making  them  eat  in  their  employer's  kitchen. 
These  are  minor  details,  perhaps,  but  neverthe- 
less they  count  for  much  in  the  lives  of  women 
who  earn  their  own  living,  and  anything,  how- 
ever small,  that  tends  to  raise  one's  self  respect, 


24  HOUSEWORK 

is  worthy  of  consideration.  Perhaps,  too,  while 
the  word  "  servant "  ( a  noble  word  enough  in  its 
history  and  its  moral  connotation)  carries  with 
it  a  stigma,  a  sense  of  degradation,  among  the 
working  women,  it  should  be  avoided. 

Briefly  summed  up,  then,  the  present  disad- 
vantages of  housework  compared  with  work  in 
factories,  stores,  and  offices,  are  as  follows : 

Enforced  separation  from  one's  family. 

Loss  of  personal  freedom. 

Lack  of  promotion. 

Unlimited  hours  of  work. 

No  day  of  rest  each  week. 

Non-observance  of  legal  holidays. 

Loss  of  caste. 

In  the  present  comparison  of  housework  with 
work  in  factories,  stores,  and  offices,  a  recital  of 
the  advantages  of  domestic  service,  even  under 
the  present  method  of  housekeeping,  must  not  be 
omitted,  for  such  advantages  are  important,  al- 
though unfortunately  they  do  not  outweigh  the 
present  disadvantages.  * 

To  the  woman  whose  home  ties  Tiave  been  dis- 
^  rupted  by  death  or  discord,  and  to  the  newly  ar- 


DISADVANTAGES  OF  HOUSEWORK        25 

rived  immigrant  especially,  housework  is  a  great 
boon,  inasmuch  as  besides  good  wages,  all  meals 
and  a  room  to  sleep  in  are  given  her.  More- 
over housework  is  the  only  form  of  labor  where 
unskilled  work  can  command  high  wages.  This, 
however,  is  much  more  fortunate  for  the  em- 
ployee than  for  her  employer. 

Housework  in  itself  is  certainly  not  worse  than 
any  other  kind  of  manual  work  in  which  women 
are  engaged;  it  is  often  more  interesting  and 
less  fatiguing.  It  also  helps  a  woman  more 
than  any  other  occupation  to  prepare  herself  for 
her  natural  sphere  of  life:  —  that  of  the  home 
maker.  A  girl  who  has  spent  several  years  in  a 
well  ordered  family  helping  to  do  the  housework, 
is  far  better  fitted  to  run  her  own  home  intelli- 
gently and  on  economic  lines  than  a  girl  who  has 
spent  the  same  number  of  years  behind  a  counter, 
or  working  in  a  factory  or  an  office. 

Again,  work  in  a  private  house  is  infinitely 
more  desirable,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  in- 
fluence of  one's  surroundings,  than  daily  labor 
in  a  factory  or  store.  The  variety  of  domestic 
duties,  the  freedom  of  moving  about  from  one 


26  HOUSEWORK 

room  to  another,  of  sitting  or  standing  to  do 
one's  work,  are  much  to  be  preferred  to  the  work 
that  compels  the  worker  to  stand  or  sit  in  one 
place  all  day  long. 

If  it  be  admitted,  then,  that  housework  is  in 
itself  a  desirable  and  suitable  occupation  for 
women  who  must  earn  their  living  by  manual 
labor,  it  can  not  be  the  work  itself,  but  the  con- 
ditions surrounding  it  that  make  it  so  distaste- 
ful to  the  modern  working  woman. 


PART  II 

BUSINESS  PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO 
HOUSEWORK 

Living  outside  place  of  employment. 
Housework  limited  to  eight  hours  a  day. 
Housework  limited  to  six  days  a  week. 
The  observance  of  legal  holidays. 
Extra  pay  for  overtime. 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  PLACE  OP 
EMPLOYMENT 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  PLACE  OP  EMPLOYMENT 

THERE  are  many  housewives  who  are  very 
much  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  a  plan  enabling 
household  employees  to  live  outside  their  place 
of  employment.  They  claim  that  it  is  wiser  to 
keep  them  under  constant  supervision  day  and 
night  in  order  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  dis- 
ease or  the  acquisition  of  bad  habits. 

There  is  more  risk  of  disease  being  introduced 
into  the  home,  and  of  bad  habits  being  con- 
tracted by  allowing  one's  children  to  associate 
with  other  children  in  schools,  public  or  private, 
and  by  letting  them  play  in  the  streets  and  pub- 
lic parks,  where  they  mingle  with  more  or  less 
undesirable  companions,  than  by  having  the 
housework  performed  by  employees  who  come 
each  day  to  their  work  and  return  to  their  homes 
at  night  when  their  duties  are  over.  Neverthe- 
less no  sensible  parents  would  keep  their  chil- 
dren shut  up  in  the  house,  only  allowing  them 
to  go  out  of  doors  for  a  few  hours  once  a  week, 

31 


32  HOUSEWORK 

for  fear  of  contagion  or  contamination,  and  yet 
this  is  just  what  the  housewife,  has  been  doing 
for  years  with  her  household  employees  under  the 
firm  impression  that  she  was  protecting  them 
as  well  as  herself. 

Present  statistics,  however^  upon  the  morality 
and  immorality  of  women  who  belong  to  what 
is  at  present  termed  the  "  servant  class,"  prove 
only  too  clearly  that  the  "  protection  "  provided 
by  the  employer's  home  does  not  protect.  The 
shelter  thus  given  serves  too  often  to  encourage  a 
life  of  deception,  especially  as  in  reality  the 
housewife  knows  but  little  of  what  takes  place 
"  below  stairs." 

The  "  servants'  quarters  "  are,  as  a  rule,  far 
enough  away  from  the  other  rooms  of  the  house 
for  much  to  transpire  there  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  "  mistress  of  the  house,"  but  who  has 
not  heard  her  complain  of  the  misconduct  of  her 
employees?  Startling  discoveries  have  been 
made  at  the  most  unexpected  times  and  from  the 
most  unexpected  quarters.  One  lady  found  her 
maid  was  in  the  habit  of  going  out  at  night  after 
the  family  had  retired,  and  leaving  the  front  door 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  33 

unlocked  in  order  to  regain  admittance  in  the 
early  morning  without  arousing  the  family. 
Another  housewife  discovered  one  day  that  her 
cook's  husband,  whose  existence  until  then  was 
unknown,  had  been  coming  for  several  months  to 
her  house  for  his  dinner.  Every  householder 
finds  that  in  the  late  evening  her  "  servants  "  en- 
tertain their  numerous  "  cousins  "  and  friends  at 
her  expense.  Moreover,  they  do  not  hesitate  to 
use  the  best  china,  glass,  and  silver  for  special 
parties  and  draw  upon  the  household  supplies 
for  the  choicest  meats  and  wines.  And  because 
they  cannot  go  out  in  the  day  time,  it  is  not  un- 
usual to  find  some  friend  or  relative  comes  to 
spend  the  entire  day  with  them,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  housewife  not  only  feeds  her  "  help  " 
but  a  string  of  hangers-on  as  well.  Why  should 
she  be  surprised  that  she  does  not  get  an  ade- 
quate return  for  the  amount  of  money  she  spends? 
And  these  things  take  place,  not  only  during  the 
temporary  absence  of  the  employer,  but  even 
while  she  is  sitting  peacefully  in  the  library  and 
listening  to  a  parlor  lecture  on  the  relations  of 
capital  #nd  labor. 


34  HOUSEWORK 

Women  say  tearfully  or  bravely  on  such  occa- 
sions :  "  What  can  be  done  to  make  servants 
better?  They  are  getting  worse  every  day." 
And  the  housewife  (one  might  almost  call  her  by 
Samuel  Pepys's  pleasing  phrase,  "  the  poor 
wretch  "')  then  pours  out  to  any  sympathetic  ear 
endless  recitals  of  aggravating,  worrying,  nerve- 
racking  experiences.  Instead  of  putting  an  end 
to  such  a  regrettable  state  of  affairs  that  would 
never  be  tolerated  by  any  business  employer,  she 
seems  content  to  bewail  her  fate  and  clings  still 
more  steadfastly  to  obsolete  methods. 

Why  does  she  not  adopt  the  methods  of  the 
business  man  in  dealing  with  his  employees? 
The  advisability  of  having  household  employees 
live  outside  their  place  of  employment  is  so  ap- 
parent that  it  ought  to  appeal  to  every  one. 
There  would  be  no  longer  the  necessity  of  putting 
aside  and  of  furnishing  certain  rooms  of  the 
house  for  their  accommodation  :  a  practice  which 
in  the  majority  of  families  is  quite  a  serious  in- 
convenience and  always  an  expense.  In  small 
homes  where  only  one  maid  is  kept,  it  may  not 
make  much  difference  to  give  up  one  room  to  her, 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  35 

but  where  several  employees  are  needed,  it 
means  very  often  that  many  rooms  must  be 
used  as  sleeping  apartments  for  them,  frequently 
too  a  sitting  room  or  a  special  dining  room  is 
given  them.  This  is  not  all,  for  the  rooms  must 
be  furnished  and  kept  clean  and  warm,  and  sup- 
plied with  an  unlimited  amount  of  gas  and  elec- 
tricity. In  many  families  the  boarding  and  lodg- 
ing of  household  employees  cause  as  much  anx- 
iety and  expense  to  the  housewife  as  to  provide 
for  her  own  family. 

And  why  does  she  do  it?  Why  does  she  con- 
sent to  take  upon  herself  so  much  extra  trouble 
for  nothing?  For,  although  she  offers  good  food 
and  a  bed  besides  excellent  wages  to  all  who  work 
for  her,  she  is  the  most  poorly  served  of  all  em- 
ployers to-day. 

In  the  great  feudal  castles  of  the  Middle  Ages 
it  was  not  deemed  safe  for  women  to  venture 
forth  alone,  even  in  the  daytime,  and  so  those 
engaged  in  housework  were  naturally  compelled 
to  live  under  their  Master's  roof,  eating  at  his 
table  and  sitting  "below  the  salt."  But  the 
Master  and  the  Serf  of  feudal  times  disappeared 


36  HOUSEWORK 

long  ago,  only  the  Mistress  and  her  "  servants  " 
remain. 

To-day,  however,  "  servants  "  no  longer  sit  at 
their  employer's  table;  they  remain  in  the 
kitchen,  where  as  a  rule  they  are  given  to  eat 
what  is  left  from  the  family  meals.  Some  house- 
wives, from  motives  of  kindness  and  considera- 
tion for  the  welfare  of  those  in  their  employ,  have 
special  meals  prepared  for  them  and  served  in  a 
dining-room  of  their  own  at  hours  which  do  not 
conflict  with  the  meals  of  the  family.  But  this 
does  not  always  meet  with  gratitude  or  even  due 
appreciation;  the  disdainful  way  in  which 
Bridget  often  complains  of  the  food  too  gener- 
ously provided  for  her  is  well  known. 

A  chambermaid  came  one  day  to  her  employer 
and  said  she  did  not  wish  to  complain  but- 
thought  it  better  to  say  frankly  that  she  was 
not  satisfied  with  what  she  was  getting  to  eat 
in  her  house:  she  wanted  to  have  roast  beef  for 
dinner  more  often,  at  least  three  or  four  times 
a  week,  for  she  did  not  care  to  eat  mutton,  nor 
steak,  and  never  ate  pork,  nor  could  she,  to  quote 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  37 

her  own  words  "  fill  up  on  bread  and  vegetables 
as  the  other  girls  did  in  the  kitchen." 

Then,  and  only  then,  did  her  employer  wake 
np  with  a  start  to  the  realization  of  the  true  posi- 
tion every  housewife  occupies  in  the  eyes  of  her 
household  employees.  They  evidently  regard 
her  in  the  light  of  a  caterer ;  she  does  the  market- 
ing not  only  for  her  family  but  for  them  too. 
She  pays  a  cook  high  wages,  not  only  to  cook 
meals  for  herself  and  family,  but  for  her  em- 
ployees also. 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life,  this  housewife 
asked  herself  the  following  questions:  Why 
should  she  allow  her  household  employees  to 
live  in  her  house?  Why  should  she  consent  to 
board  them  at  her  expense?  Why  should  she 
continue  to  place  at  their  disposal  a  bedroom 
each,  a  private  bathroom,  a  sitting  room  or  a 
dining  room?  Why  should  she  allow  them  to 
make  use  of  her  kitchen  and  laundry  to  do  their 
own  personal  washing,  even  providing  them  with 
soap  and  starch,  irons  and  an  ironing  board,  fuel 
and  gas?  Why  should  she  do  all  this  for  them 


38  HOUSEWORK 

when  no  business  employer,  man  or  woman,  ever 
does  it?  Was  it  simply  because  her  mother,  her 
grandmother,  her  great-grandmother  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  doing  it? 

This  awakening  was  the  beginning  of  the  end 
of  all  the  trouble  and  expense  which  she  had  en- 
dured for  so  many  years  in  connection  with  the 
boarding  and  lodging  of  her  "  servants."  To- 
day she  has  no  "  servants  " ;  she  has  household 
employees  who  come  to  her  house  each  day,  just 
as  other  employees  go  each  day  to  their  place  of 
employment.  They  take  no  meals  in  her  house, 
and  her  housekeeping  expenses  have  diminished 
as  much  as  her  own  comfort  has  increased.  Her 
employees  are  better  and  more  efficient  than  any 
she  ever  had  under  the  old  regime,  and  nothing 
could  persuade  her  to  return  to  her  former  meth- 
ods of  housekeeping. 

The  cost  of  providing  meals  for  domestic  em- 
ployees varies  according  to  the  mode  of  living  of 
each  individual  family,  and  of  late  it  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  discussion.  Some  important 
details,  however,  seem  to  be  generally  over- 
looked, for  the  cost  of  the  food  is  the  only 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  39 

thing  usually  considered  by  the  average  house- 
wife. To  this  first  expense  must  be  added  the 
cost  of  pots  and  pans  for  cooking  purposes;  even 
irader  careful  management,  kitchen  utensils  are 
bound  to  wear  out  and  must  be  replaced.  Then 
there  is  the  cost  of  the  extra  fuel  or  gas  or  elec- 
tricity required  to  cook  the  food,  nor  must  one 
forget  to  count  the  extra  work  of  the  cook  to  pre- 
pare the  meals,  and  of  the  kitchen  maid  or  of 
some  other  maid  to  wash  up  the  dishes  after  each 
meal  served  to  employees.  There  is  also  the  ex- 
pense of  buying  kitchen  plates  and  dishes, 
glasses,  cups  and  saucers,  knives  and  forks,  etc. 
Every  housewife  is  in  the  habit  of  providing 
kitchenware  for  the  use  of  her  employees. 

The  total  sum  of  all  these  items  would  aston- 
ish those  who  think  that  the  actual  expense  of 
giving  meals  to  household  employees  is  not  a 
very  great  one  and  is  limited  to  the  cost  of  the 
food  they  eat;  even  this  last  expense  is  consid- 
erably augmented  by  the  careless  and  wasteful 
way  in  which  provisions  are  generally  handled 
by  those  who  do  not  have  to  pay  for  them.  When 
ways  and  means  are  discussed  among  housewives 


40  HOUSEWORK 

to  reduce  the  present  "  high  cost  of  living,"  it 
would  be  well  to  advise  all  women  to  try  the  ex- 
periment of  having  their  household  employees 
live  outside  their  place  of  employment.  The  re- 
sult from  an  economic  point  of  view  alone  is 
amazing,  and  the  relief  it  brings  the  housewife 
who  is  no  longer  obliged  to  provide  food  and 
sleeping  accommodations  for  her  employees  is  so 
great  that  one  wonders  why  she  has  been  willing 
to  burden  herself  with  these  responsibilities  for 
so  many  years. 

There  was  once  a  time  when  women  did  not  go 
out  alone  to  eat  in  a  restaurant,  but  to-day  one 
sees  about  as  many  women  as  men  eating  their 
midday  meal  in  public.  If  women  engaged  in 
general  business  prove  themselves  thus  capable 
of  self  care,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why 
household  employees,  who  often  receive  higher 
wages  than  shop  girls  and  stenographers,  should 
not  be  able  to  do  the  same.  They  would  enjoy 
their  meals  more  outside,  albeit  the  food  given 
them  in  their  employer's  house  is  undoubtedly 
of  a  better  quality;  the  change  of  surroundings 
and  the  opportunity  of  meeting  friends,  of  leav- 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  41 

ing  their  work  behind  them,  would  compensate 
them.  In  any  event,  it  is  clearly  proved  by  the 
scarcity  of  women  applying  for  positions  in  pri- 
vate houses  that  these  two  advantages  only  to 
be  obtained  in  domestic  labor  —  board  and  lodg- 
ing —  do  not  attract  the  working  woman  of  the 
present  day. 

The  joy  of  eating  the  bread  of  independence 
is  an  old  and  deeply  rooted  feeling.  There  is 
an  ancient  fable  of  ^sop  about  the  Dog  and  the 
Wolf  which  portrays  this  sentiment  in  a  very 
quaint  and  delightful  manner.  ( Sir  Roger  1'Es- 
trange's  translation. ) 

THE  DOG  AND  THE  WOLF 

There  was  a  Hagged  Carrion  of  a  Wolf,  and  a 
Jolly  Sort  of  a  Gentile  Dog,  with  Good  Flesh 
upon's  Back,  that  fell  into  Company  together 
upon  the  King's  High-Way.  The  Wolf  was  won- 
derfully pleas'd  with  his  Companion,  and  as  In- 
quisitive to  Learn  how  he  brought  himself  to 
That  Blessed  State  of  Body.  Why,  says  the 
Dog,  I  keep  my  Master's  House  from  Thieves, 
and  I  have  very  Good  Meat,  Drink,  and  Lodging 


42  HOUSEWORK 

for  my  pains.  Now  if  you'll  go  along  with  Me, 
and  do  as  I  do,  you  may  fare  as  I  fare.  The 
Wolf  Struck  up  the  Bargain,  and  so  away  they 
Trotted  together :  But  as  they  were  Jogging  on, 
the  Wolf  spy'd  a  Bare  Place  about  the  Doy's 
Neck  where  the  Hair  was  worn  off.  Brother 
(says  he)  how  comes  this  I  prethee?  Oh, 
That's  Nothing,  says  the  Dog,  hut  the  Fretting 
of  my  Collar  a  little.  Nay,  says  T'other,  if  there 
be  a  Collar  in  the  Case,  I  know  Better  Things 
than  to  sell  my  Liberty  for  a  Crust. 

THE  MORAL 

....  ?Tis  a  Comfort  to  have  Good  Meat  and 
Drink  at  Command,  and  Warm  Lodging:  But 
He  that  sells  his  Freedom  for  the  Cramming  of 
his  Belly,  has  but  a  Hard  Bargain  of  it. 

In  modern  business  enterprises,  there  is  hardly 
a  single  instance  of  an  employer  who  is  will- 
ing to  board  his  employees,  nor  would  he  con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  proposition  of  allowing 
them  to  remain  at  their  place  of  employment 
all  night  and  of  providing  sleeping  acconimoda- 


LIVING  OUTSIDE  43 

tions  for  them.  Neither  in  consideration  of  ben- 
efiting them,  nor  with  the  view  of  benefiting  him- 
self by  thus  making  sure  of  having  them  on  hand 
for  work  early  the  next  morning,  would  he  ever 
consent  to  such  an  arrangement.  When  he 
needs  some  one  to  watch  over  his  interests  in 
the  night  time,  he  engages  a  night  watchman,  a 
very  much  more  economical  plan  than  to  pro- 
vide lodging  for  all  his  employees. 

Why  should  the  housewife  be  the  only  em- 
ployer to  assume  the  burden  of  a  double  responsi- 
bility toward  her  employees?  Perhaps  in  the 
country,  where  it  might  be  impossible  for  them 
to  live  outside  her  home,  such  a  necessity  might 
arise,  but  in  cities  and  suburban  towns,  there  is 
absolutely  no  valid  reason  why  household  em- 
ployees should  sleep,  eat,  and  live  under  their 
employer's  roof.  It  is  a  custom  only,  and  truly 
a  custom  that  would  be  "  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance," 


HOUSEWORK  LIMITED  TO  EIGHT  HOUKS 
A  DAY 


HOUSEWORK  LIMITED  TO  EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY 

IN  the  home  woman's  work  is  said  to  be  never  \ 
ended.     If  this  be  true,  it  is  the  fault  of  the 
woman  who  plans  the  work,  for  in  all  the  posi- 
tions of  life,  work  can  be  carried  on  indefinitely 
if  badly  planned. 

It  is  the  essential  thesis  of  this  little  volume 
that  the  domestic  labor  of  women  should  be  lim- 
ited to  a  fixed  number  of  hours  per  day  in  pri-  ! 
vate  houses. 

It  is  not  unusual  at  the  present  day  for  a 
woman  to  work  twelve,  or  fourteen  hours  a  day, 
or  even  longer,  when  she  earns  her  living  as  a 
household  employee.  A  man's  mental  and  phys- 
ical forces  begin  to  wane  at  the  end  of  eight,  nine, 
or  ten  hours  of  constant  application  to  the  same 
work,  and  a  woman's  strength  is  not  greater 
than  a  man's.  The  truth  of  the  proposition,  ab- 
stractly considered,  has  been  long  acknowledged 
and  nowadays  requires  no  argument. 

47 


48  HOUSEWORK 

When  a  woman  accepts  a  position  in  business, 
she  is  told  exactly  how  many  hours  a  day  she 
must  work,  but  when  a  woman  is  engaged  to  fill  a 
domestic  position  in  a  family,  the  number  of 
hours  she  is  expected  to  give  her  employer  is 
never  specified.  She  is  simply  told  that  she  must 
be  on  duty  early  in  the  morning  before  the  family 
arises,  and  that  she  may  consider  herself  off  duty 
as  soon  as  the  family  for  whom  she  is  working 
has  withdrawn  for  the  night.  Is  it  surprising 
that  under  such  conditions  working  women  are 
not  very  enthusiastic  over  the  domestic  proposi- 
tion to-day? 

A  household  employee  ought  to  have  her  hours 
of  work  as  clearly  defined  as  if  she  were  a  busi- 
ness employee,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
eight-hour  labor  law  could  not  be  applied  as  suc- 
cessfully to  housework  as  to  any  other  enter- 
prise. 

Work  in  business  is  generally  divided  into 
two  periods.  Yet  this  division  can  not  always 
be  effected,  and  in  railroad  and  steamship  posi- 
tions, in  post  offices,  upon  trolley  lines,  in 
hotels,  in  hospitals,  and  in  other  cases  too  nu- 


EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY  49 

merous  to  mention,  where  work  must  follow  a 
continuous  round,  the  working  hours  are  divided 
into  more  than  two  periods,  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  work  and  the  interests  of  the  em- 
ployer, not  however  exceeding  a  fixed  number  of 
hours  per  day  or  per  week. 

It  would  be  far  better  for  the  housewife  as  well 
as  for  her  employees,  if  the  housework  were  lim- 
ited in  a  similar  way.  But  writh  the  introduction 
of  the  eight-hour  law  in  the  home,  certain  new 
conditions  would  have  to  be  rigidly  enforced  in 
order  to  ensure  success. 

Firstly,  the  employee  should  be  made  to  un- 
derstand that  during  the  eight  hours  of  work 
agreed  upon,  she  must  be  engaged  in  actual 
work  for  her  employer. 

Secondly,  when  an  employee  is  off  duty,  she 
should  not  be  allowed  to  remain  with  or  to  talk 
to  the  other  employee  or  employees  who  are  still 
on  duty.  When  her  work  is  finished,  she  ought 
to  leave  her  employer's  house.  The  non-observ- 
ance of  either  of  these  two  points  produces  a  de- 
moralizing effect. 

Thirdly,  a  general  knowledge  of  cooking,  and 


50  HOUSEWORK 

serving  meals,  of  cleaning  and  taking  proper 
care  of  the  rooms  of  a  house,  of  attending  cor- 
rectly to  the  telephone  and  the  door  bell,  of  sew- 
ing, of  washing  and  ironing,  and  of  taking  care 
of  children,  should  be  insisted  upon  from  all 
household  employees. 

There  are  many  housewives  who  will  state  that 
this  last  condition  is  impossible,  that  it  is  ask- 
ing too  much  from  one  employee;  and  since  it 
is  hard  to-day  to  find  a  good  cook,  it  will  be  still 
harder  to  find  one  who  understands  other  house- 
hold work  as  well.  But  those  who  jump  to  these 
conclusions  have  never  tried  the  experiment.  It 
is  not  only  possible  but  practicable. 

Judging  from  the  ordinary  intelligence  dis- 
played by  the  average  cook  and  housemaid  in  the 
majority  of  private  homes  to-day,  it  ought  not  to 
seem  incredible  that  the  duties  of  both  could  be 
easily  mastered  by  young  women  of  ordinary  abil- 
ity. A  woman  who  knows  how  to  prepare  and 
cook  a  meal,  may  easily  learn  the  correct  way 
of  serving  it,  and  the  possession  of  this  knowl- 
edge ought  not  to  prevent  her  from  being  capable 


EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY  51 

of  sweeping  a  room,  or  making  a  bed,  or  taking 
care  of  children. 

It  is  above  all  in  families  where  only  a  few 

•> 

employees  are  kept,  that  the  housewife  will 
quickly  realize  how  much  it  is  to  her  immediate 
advantage  to  employ  women  who  know  how  to 
do  all  kinds  of  housework,  instead  of  having  those 
who  make  a  specialty  of  one  particular  branch. 
The  specialization  of  work  in  private  houses 
has  been  carried  to  such  an  extreme  that  it  has 
become  one  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  to  success- ! 
ful  housekeeping  in  small  families.  Under  this 
system  of  specialization,  a  household  employee 
is  not  capable  in  emergency  of  taking  up  satis- 
factorily the  work  of  another.  Even  if  she  be 
able  to  do  it,  she  often  professes  ignorance  for 
fear  it  may  prolong  her  own  hours  of  labor,  or 
because,  as  she  sometimes  frankly  admits,  she 
does  not  consider  it  "  her  place."  The  chamber- 1 
maid  does  not  know  how  to  cook,  the  cook  does 
not  know  how  to  do  the  chamberwork,  the  wait- 
ress, in  her  turn,  can  do  neither  cooking  nor 
chamberwork,  and  the  annoyance  to  the  whole 


52  HOUSEWORK 

family  caused  by  the  temporary  absence  of  one 
of  its  regular  employees  is  enough  to  spoil  for 
the  tiine  being  all  the  traditional  comforts  of 
home. 

In  hotels  and  public  institutions,  and  in  large 
private  establishments,  where  the  work  demands 
a  numerous  staff  of  employees,  the  specialization 
of  the  work  is  the  only  means  for  its  successful 
accomplishment,  but  in  the  average  home  re- 
quiring from  one  to  four  or  five  employees  no 
system  could  be  worse  from  an  economic  point 
of  view,  nor  less  conducive  to  the  comfort  of  the 
family. 

Specialization  produces  another  bad  effect, 
for  it  prevents  the  existence  of  the  feeling  of 
equality  among  employees  in  the  same  house. 
Each  "specialist"  speaks  rather  disparagingly 
of  the  other's  work,  regardless  of  the  relative 
position  her  own  special  "  art "  may  occupy  to 
the  unprejudiced  mind. 

An  amusing  instance  of  this  was  recently 
shown  at  a  country  place  near  New  York,  when 
"  the  lady  of  the  manor  "  asked  a  friend  to  send 
some  one  down  from  the  city  to  help  with  the 


EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY  53 

housework  during  the  temporary  absence  of  her 
maid.  The  friend  could  not  find  any  one  at  the 
domestic  employment  agencies  willing  to  go,  but 
at  last  through  the  Charity  Organization  So- 
ciety, she  heard  of  a  woman  temporarily  out  of 
employment,  who  had  been  frequently  employed 
as  scrubwoman  on  the  vacation  piers.  When  the 
work  was  offered  her,  she  accepted  it  immedi- 
ately. Arriving  at  her  new  employer's  house, 
she  began  at  once  to  scrub  the  floors,  and  when 
the  work  was  completed,  she  sat  on  a  chair  and 
took  no  further  notice  of  anything.  The  next 
clay,  having  no  more  floors  to  scrub,  the  same 
general  lack  of  interest  was  manifested.  She 
was  asked  to  wash  the  dishes  after  dinner.  She 
replied  that  she  was  not  used  to  "  dishwashing," 
and  did  not  know  how  to  do  it.  She  was  per- 
suaded, however,  to  make  the  attempt,  but  per- 
formed her  new  task  very  reluctantly.  The  fol- 
lowing morning  she  said  she  felt  "  lonely  "  and 
would  return  at  once  to  the  city.  As  the  train 
came  in  sight  to  bear  her  back  to  her  accustomed 
surroundings,  she  gave  a  snort  of  relief,  and  ex- 
claimed :  "  Fm  a  scrubwoman,  I  am.  I  ain't 


54  HOUSEWORK 

going  to  do  no  fancy  dishwashing,  no,  not  for 
no  one ;  Fin  a  scrubwoman."  And  she  clambered 
up  into  the  train  with  the  alacrity  of  a  woman 
whose  dignity  had  received  a  hard  blow. 

The  above  illustration  is  typical  of  the  spirit 
subjected  to  the  system  of  specialization,  and 
shows  how  unwise  it  is  to  encourage  it  in  the 
home  where  all  branches  of  housework  could 
be  easily  made  interchangeable. 

Under  the  new  system  of  limiting  housework 
to  eight  hours  a  day,  the  housewife  must  insist 
that  all  applicants  be  willing  and  able  to  per- 
form any  part  of  the  housework  she  may  assign, 
and  their  duties  ought  not  to  be  specified  other- 
wise than  by  the  term  HOUSEWORK.  The  em- 
ployee who  refuses  to  wait  on  the  table  dur- 
ing the  absence  of  the  waitress,  or  to  cook,  or 
to  do  the  laundry  work,  or  to  answer  the  tele- 
phone, or  to  carry  packages  from  her  employ- 
er's automobile  to  the  library,  because  she  does 
not  consider  it  "  her  place  to  do  these  things/' 
should  be  instantly  discharged. 

These  very  important  conditions  being  under- 
stood and  conceded,  the  choice  and  arrangement 


EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY  55 

of  the  eight  hours'  work  must  necessarily  lie  with 
each  individual  housewife.  Each  family  is  dif- 
ferent and  has  different  claims  upon  its  time. 
The  "  rush  hours  "  of  social  life  are  sometimes 
in  the  evening,  and  sometimes  in  the  afternoon, 
and  again  in  some  families,  especially  where 
there  are  small  children,  the  breakfast  hour 
seems  the  most  complicated  of  the  day.  All 
these  details  have  to  be  carefully  thought  of  when 
making  an  eight  hour  schedule.  At  the  end  of 
this  book  a  set  of  schedules  is  placed.  Any  in- 
telligent housewife  can  understand  them,  imi- 
tate them,  and  in  many  instances  improve  them. 
They  are  merely  given  as  elementary  examples. 

According  to  the  number  of  employees  she  en- 
gages, the  housewife  will  have  eight,  sixteen,  or 
twenty-four  hours  of  work  to  distribute  among 
them,  and  to  meet  her  peculiar  needs  she  will 
find  it  necessary  at  the  outset  to  devote  some 
hours  to  a  satisfactory  scheme.  After  testing 
several,  she  will  probably  have  to  begin  all  over 
again  before  she  finally  succeeds  in  evolving  one 
that  is  available.  But  the  problem  is  interest- 
ing in  itself,  and  alwaj's  admits  of  a  solution. 


56  HOUSEWORK 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  make  this  final  sugges- 
tion for  the  woman  who  is  willing  to  give  the 
new  plan  a  fair  trial:  she  should  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  the  business  man  when  he  is  in  need 
of  new  employees,  and  advertise  for  help,  stat- 
ing hours  of  work,  and  requesting  that  all  ap- 
plications be  made  by  letter.  This  disposes  rap- 
idly of  the  illiterate,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
a  woman  who  writes  a  good,  legible,  and  accurate 
hand,  is  more  apt  to  be  efficient  in  her  work  than 
one  who  sends  in  a  dirty,  careless,  ill-expressed 
and  badly  spelled  application.  Through  adver- 
tising one  comes  into  touch  with  many  women 
it  would  be  impossible  to  reach  otherwise.  It  is 
also  the  most  advantageous  way  of  bringing  the 
employer  and  employee  together,  inasmuch  as 
it  dispenses  entirely  with  the  services  of  a  third 
person,  who,  naturally  can  not  be  expected  to 
offer  gratuitous  service. 

The  plan  of  limiting  housework  to  eight  hours 
a  day  is  not  an  idle  theory;  it  has  been  in  suc- 
cessful operation  for  several  years.  Yet  it  is 
not  easy  to  change  the  habit  of  years.  There 
are  many  housewives  who  would  loudly  declare 


EIGHT  HOURS  A  DAY  57 

it  impossible  to  conform  to  such  business  rules 
in  the  household ;  and  many  of  the  older  genera- 
tion of  cooks  and  housemaids  would  agree.  But 
when  such  a  plan  has  been  generally  adopted, 
the  domestic  labor  problem  will  be  solved,  and  it 
does  not  appear  that  in  the  present  state  of  so- 
cial organization,  it  can  be  solved  in  any  other 
way. 


HOUSEWORK  LIMITED  TO  SIX  DAYS  A 
WEEK 


HOUSEWORK  LIMITED  TO  SIX   DAYS  A   WEEK 

UNDER  the  present  system  of  housekeeping, 
there  is  not  one  day  out  of  the  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five  that  a  domestic  employee  has  the 
right  to  claim  as  a  day  of  rest,  not  even  a  legal 
holiday. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  fact,  showing  so 
forcibly  one  of  the  greatest  disadvantages  con- 
nected with  housework,  should  attract  so  little 
attention.  No  one  seems  to  care  about  the  fate 
of  the  "  servant  girl,"  as  she  is  so  often  disdain- 
fully called.  During  six  days  of  the  week  she 
works  on  the  average  fourteen  hours  a  day,  but 
no  one  stops  to  notice  that  she  is  tired.  On 
the  seventh  day,  instead  of  resting  as  every  other 
employee  has  the  right  to  do,  her  work  is  merely 
reduced  to  nine,  eight,  or  perhaps  seven  hours; 
and  yet  she  needs  a  day  of  rest  as  much  as  every 
other  woman  who  earns  her  bread.  The  rights 
of  the  domestic  employee  are  ignored  on  all  sides 

61 


62  HOUSEWORK 

apparently.  In  public  demonstrations  of  dis- 
satisfaction between  employers  and  employees 
the  most  oppressed  class  of  the  working  people 
—  the  women  who  do  housework  —  has  never 
yet  been  represented. 

This  is  probably  due  to  two  causes:  the  first 
is  because  women  dissatisfied  with  housework 
are  rapidly  finding  positions  in  business  where 
they  enjoy  rights  and  privileges  denied  them 
in  domestic  labor;  and  the  second  is  because 
the  great  majority  of  women  engaged  in  house- 
work are  foreign-born.  These  women  learn 
quickly  to  understand  and  speak  English,  but 
they  do  not  often  read  and  write  it,  and  as  they 
are  kept  in  close  confinement  in  their  employ- 
er's house,  they  have  rarely  the  opportunity 
of  hearing  about  the  emancipation  of  the  mod- 
ern working  woman.  Most  of  them  are  of  a 
very  humble  origin,  and  being  debarred  from 
business  positions  on  account  of  their  ignorance 
and  inexperience,  they  are  thankful  to  earn 
money  in  any  kind  of  employment  regardless  of 
the  length  of  working  hours. 

Their  children,  however,  who  are  American 


SIX  DAYS  A  WEEK  63 

born  and  enjoy  better  educational  advantages, 
do  not  follow  in  their  footsteps  when  the  time 
comes  for  them  to  earn  their  living.  They  be- 
come stenographers,  typewriters,  dressmakers, 
milliners,  shirt  Avaist  makers,  cash-girls,  sales- 
women, etc. ;  in  fact  any  occupation  where  work 
is  limited  to  a  fixed  number  of  hours  a  day  and 
confined  to  six  days  a  week,  is  considered  more 
desirable  than  housework.  The  result  is  that 
the  housewife  is  compelled  to  take  for  her  em- 
ployees only  those  who  are  rejected  by  every 
other  employer;  the  capable,  independent,  intel- 
ligent American  woman  is  hardly  ever  seen  in 
domestic  service. 

In  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  law  (the  La  Follette 
Eight  Hour  Law  for  Women  in  the  District  of 
Columbia)  was  recently  passed  limiting  to  eight 
hours  a  day  and  six  days  a  week  practically  all 
work  in  which  women  are  industrially  em- 
ployed ;  "  hotel  servants  "  are  included  under  the 
provisions  of  this  law,  but  "domestic  servants  in 
private  homes"  are  expressly  excluded. 

If  this  new  law  be  considered  a  just  and  hu- 
mane measure  for  women  who  are  business  ein- 


64  HOUSEWORK 

ployees,  and  if  business  houses  be  compelled  to 
observe  it,  one  naturally  wonders  why  it  should 
not  prove  to  be  an  equally  just  and  humane  law 
for  women  who  work  in  private  families,  and 
why  should  not  the  home  be  compelled  to  ob- 
serve it  too?  Instead  of  being  a  barrier  to  prog- 
ress, the  home  ought  to  cooperate  with  the  state 
in  the  enforcement  of  laws  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  working  women.  The  home, 
being  presided  over  by  a  woman,  presumably 
of  some  education  and  intelligence,  should  be 
a  most  fitting  place  in  which  to  apply  a  law  de- 
signed to  protect  women  against  excessive  hours 
of  labor. 

Why  should  housework  in  private  homes  be 
an  exception  to  all  other  work?  Is  it  because 
some  housewives  say,  in  self  justification  and 
frequently  without  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
Avhat  it  is  to  do  housework  week  after  week  with- 
out one  day's  release,  that  housework  is  easier 
than  other  work?  Is  it  easier?  Is  it  not  some- 
times harder?  However,  it  is  not  a  question  of 
housework  being  harder  or  easier  than  other 
work,  but  of  the  desirability  of  having  it  limited 


SIX  DAYS  A  WEEK  65 

to  eight  hours  a  day  and  six  days  a  week.  Why 
should  the  housewife  be  allowed  to  remain  in  such 
a  state  of  apathy  in  regard  to  the  physical  wel- 
fare of  her  household  employees? 

"  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  "  has  all  the  sanc- 
tion of  scripture,  of  morals,  and  of  common  ex- 
perience. It  is  only  fair  that  women  who  work 
in  private  families  should  have  one  day  out  of 
seven  a£  a  day  of  rest,  even  as  their  more  fortu- 
nate sisters  in  the  business 'world.  If  by  adopt- 
ing such  a  law  in  the  home  the  housewife  found 
that  her  work  was  performed  far  more  efficiently 
and  willingly  than  at  present,  would  it  not  be 
as  much  to  her  advantage  as  to  the  advantage  of 
those  she  employs  to  limit  the  hours  of  household 
labor  to  six  days  a  week?  Many  housewives  may 
object  to  this  proposition  inasmuch  as  the  work 
in  a  home  can  not  be  suspended  even  for  a  day. 
But  when  two  or  more  employees  work  in  a  pri- 
vate home,  it  is  very  easy  to  plan  the  housework 
so  that  each  employee  may  have  a  different  day 
of  the  week  as  a  "  day  of  rest,"  without  the  com- 
fort of  the  family  being  disturbed  by  the  tem- 
porary absence  of  one  of  the  employees.  It  is 


66  HOUSEWORK 

only  in  families  where  one  employee  is  kept  that 
it  may  make  a  very  serious  difference  to  the 
housewife  when  her  "  maid-of-all-work  "  is  away 
for  one  entire  day  each  week.  Nevertheless  the 
comfort  of  an  employer  ought  not  to  outweigh 
justice  to  an  employee. 

There  are  many  ways  of  regulating  the  house- 
work, as  will  be  seen  in  the  schedules  at  the  end 
of  this  book,  in  order  to  give  one  day  of  freedom 
each  week  to  household  employees  without  caus- 
ing much  inconvenience  to  the  housewife.  By 
continuing  to  refuse  this  privilege  to  women  em- 
ployed in  domestic  labor,  housekeeping  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  complicated.  Already 
it  is  such  a  common  occurrence  in  some  cities 
and  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  not  to  find 
any  woman  willing  to  do  housework,  that  many 
housewives  are  beginning  to  think  that  their  fu- 
ture comfort  in  all  household  matters  will  de- 
pend entirely  upon  new  labor  saving  devices  and 
upon  the  help  of  the  community  rather  than  upon 
the  increased  knowledge  and  skill  of  domestic 
employees. 

There  exists  a  prevailing  impression,  too,  that 


SIX  DAYS  A  WEEK  67 

housework  has  lost  its  dignity,  and  that  at  this 
period  of  the  world's  social  history,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  restore  it  for  women  have  stepped  above 
it.  But  this  is  not  true.  The  fact  is  that  house- 
work has  remained  stationary  while  other  work 
has  gained  in  freedom  and  dignity.  Without 
noisy  protestations,  or  indignant  speeches  deliv- 
ered in  public,  women  have  slowly  and  silently, 
one  by  one,  deserted  housework  as  a  career  on  ac- 
count of  the  narrowing,  servile,  and  unjust  con- 
ditions inseparable  from  it  at  the  present  day. 
Let  these  conditions  be  removed  and  new  regula- 
tions based  upon  modern  business  principles  take 
their  place,  and  then  it  will  be  seen  that  house- 
work has  never  lost  its  dignity,  and  the  very 
women  who  abandoned  it  will  be  the  first  to 
choose  it  again  as  a  means  of  earning  their  liveli- 
hood. 

As  a  proof  of  this,  the  following  experience 
may  be  cited  of  a  New  Work  woman  who  wished 
to  obtain  a  domestic  employee  for  general  house- 
work. She  went  to  several  employment  agencies 
and  at  the  end  of  a  week  she  had  seen  four  ap- 
plicants; three  were  foreigners  and  spoke  Eng- 


68  HOUSEWORK 

lish  so  brokenly  that  they  could  never  have  been 
left  in  charge  of  a  telephone.  Not  one  of  the 
four  was  worth  considering  after  investigating 
their  references,  and  these  were  the  only  women 
she  could  find  willing  to  do  general  housework. 
Upon  the  advice  of  a  friend,  the  perplexed  house- 
wife advertised  in  one  of  the  daily  newspapers, 
but  only  a  few  women  applied  for  the  position 
and  these  were  far  from  being  satisfactory.  She 
then  inserted  another  advertisement  expressed  in 
the  following  words :  4  Wanted :  a  young  woman 
to  help  with  housework,  eight  hours  a  day,  six 
days  a  week,  sleep  home.  Apply  by  letter  only." 
This  last  clause  was  added  to  prevent  any  one 
from  applying  for  the  position  who  could  not 
write  English,  as  it  was  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  person  engaged  to  do  the  housework 
should  be  capable  of  attending  correctly  to  the 
telephone.  On  the  same  day  the  advertisement 
appeared,  eighty-five  applications  by  letter  were 
received,  and  twenty  more  came  the  following 
day.  All  who  wrote  expressed  their  willingness 
to  fill  the  position  of  a  domestic  employee  and  to 


SIX  DAYS  A  WEEK  C9 

do  anything  in  the  way  of  housework  under  the 
new  conditions  specified  in  the  advertisement. 
Only  one  stated  she  would  do  no  washing.  Many 
who  replied  to  this  advertisement  had  occupied 
positions,  which  according  to  the  present  stand- 
ard, were  far  superior  to  housework ;  many,  too, 
were  married  women,  experienced  in  all  house- 
hold work,  and  most  anxious  to  accept  a  position 
in  a  private  family,  a  position  that  did  not  break 
up  their  own  home  life. 

The  housewife  was  bewildered  by  the  unex- 
pected result  of  her  advertisement:  the  tables 
were  turned  at  last,  Instead  of  being  one  of 
many  looking  in  vain  for  a  good  domestic  em- 
ployee, she  found  that  she  had  now  the  advan- 
tage of  being  able  to  choose  from  more  than  a 
hundred  applicants  one  who  would  best  suit  her 
own  peculiar  needs. 

The  same  advertisement  has  been  inserted 
at  different  times  and  has  always  brought  the 
same  remarkable  result:  from  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty  answers  each  time.  It 
is  true  that  all  who  present  themselves  may  not 


70  HOUSEWORK 

be  efficient,  but  efficiency  speedily  comes  to  the 
front  when  upon  it  alone  depends  a  desirable 
position. 

Two  very  important  facts  came  to  light  through 
the  help  of  this  advertisement;  one  was  to  find 
so  many  women  eager  to  do  housework  when  it 
was  limited  to  eight  hours  a  day  and  six  days 
a  "week,  and  the  other  was  to  hear  that  they  were 
willing  to  board  and  lodge  themselves,  as  well 
as  work,  for  the  same  wages  that  "  servants  " 
are  accustomed  to  receive,  although  to  the  latter 
the  housewife  invariably  gives  gratis  all  food  and 
sleeping  accommodations.  These  two  facts  alone 
prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  by  applying  business 
principles  to  housework  all  objections  to  it  as 
a  means  of  earning  a  livelihood  are  removed. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  for  a  time  the  old  fash 
ioned  "  mistress,"  and  the  old  fashioned  "  serv- 
ant "  will  continue  to  cling  to  past  customs ;  but 
once  it  is  proved  that  domestic  labor  limited 
to  eight  hours  a  day  and  six  days  a  week,  brings 
a  better,  more  intelligent,  more  efficient  class  of 
employees  to  the  home,  the  most  obdurate  em- 
ployer will  change  her  mind. 


SIX  DAYS  A  WEEK  71 

Xo  legislation  is  needed.  If  all  who  are  try- 
ing to  solve  the  "  servant  question  "  will  begin 
to  practice  the  new  plan  in  their  own  homes,  the 
future  will  take  care  of  itself  and  the  old  ways 
will  die  a  natural  death. 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  LEGAL  HOLIDAYS 
IN  THE  HOME 


THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  LEGAL  HOLIDAYS  IN  THE 
HOME 

THE  pleasure  brought  by  the  advent  of  a  holi- 
day into  the  lives  of  the  working  people  can 

hardly  be  overestimated,  and  it  is  doubtful  if 

i 
holidays  would  ever  have  become  legalized  had 

they  not  proved  of  distinct  value  to  the  masses. 
To  have  one  day  each  week  free  from  the  steady 
grind  of  one's  daily  work  is  a  great  relief,  but 
to  have  a  holiday  is  something  still  better,  for  it 
usually  means  a  day  set  apart  for  general  re- 
joicing. 

Why  do  all  housewives  persistently  disregard 
the  right  of  the  household  employee  to  have  legal 
holidays?  The  reason  generally  brought  for- 
ward is  that  many  families  need  their  employees 
more  on  a  holiday  than  on  any  other  day.  In 
many  cases  this  is  quite  true  on  account  of  family 
reunions  or  the  entertaining  of  friends,  but  very 

often  the  housewife  could  easily  dispense  with 

75 


7G  HOUSEWORK 

the  services  of  her  employees  oil  a  holiday.  She 
does  not  do  it,  however,  or  only  occasionally,  be- 
cause it  is  not  the  custom  to  grant  holidays  to 
women  wrho  work  in  private  homes. 

If  it  be  impossible,  on  account  of  the  exigen- 
cies of  home  life,  to  grant  all  legal  holidays  to 
household  employees,  there  are  many  different 
ways  of  planning  the  housework  so  that  other 
days  may  be  given  instead.  Sometimes  the  day 
before  or  the  day  after  a  holiday  will  give  as 
much  pleasure  as  the  day  itself.  A  woman  who 
is  at  the  head  of  a  home  has  many  opportunities 
of  coming  into  close  contact  with  her  employees ; 
she  can  easily  ascertain  their  wishes  in  this  re- 
spect and  act  accordingly.  It  is  more  the  fact 
of  being  entitled  to  a  holiday  than  to  have  it  on 
a  certain  day  that  ought  to  be  emphasized. 

Domestic  employees  would  be  benefited  by 
having  these  extra  days  of  liberty,  just  as  much 
as  all  other  employees.  A  trial  is  all  that  is 
necessary  to  show  how  much  better  a  household 
employee  will  work  after  having  a  holiday.  She 
returns  to  her  duties  with  renewed  strength  and 
the  knowledge  that  she,  is  no  longer  forced  to 


LEGAL  HOLIDAYS  77 

play  the  role  of  Cinderella  gives  her  a  fresh  in- 
terest in  life.  Unfortunately  the  housewife  has 
been  accustomed  for  so  many  years  to  have  her 
"  servants  "  work  for  her  all  day  long  on  every 
day  of  the  week,  with  only  a  few  hours  off  duty 
"  on  every  other  Sunday  and  on  every  other 
Thursday,"  that  she  is  rather  inclined  to  resent 
such  an  innovation  as  the  observance  of  legal 
holidays  in  domestic  labor.  She  fails  to  per- 
ceive that  by  her  present  attitude  she  shows  her- 
self in  a  very  unfavorable  light  as  an  employer, 
for  the  lack  of  holidays  is  decidedly  one  of  the 
reasons  for  which  housework  is  shunned  to-day. 

Business  men  have  evolved  a  satisfactory  and 
workable  plan  by  which  their  employees  are 
neither  overworked  nor  deprived  of  all  legal  holi- 
days, although  frequently  the  work  they  are  en- 
gaged in  can  not  be  suspended  day  or  night  even 
for  an  hour. 

It  remains  for  women  of  the  leisure  class,  and 
to  this  class  belong  all  those  who  can  afford  to 
pay  to  have  their  housework  done  for  them,  to 
adopt  a  similar  plan  in  their  homes. 


EXTRA  PAY  FOR  OVERTIME 


EXTRA  PAY  FOR  OVERTIME 

WHEN  the  plan  for  limiting  housework  to 
eight  hours  a  day  is  discussed  for  the  first  time, 
the  following  question  invariably  arises :  What 
is  to  be  done  when  anything  unusual  happens 
to  break  the  routine  of  the  regular  work,  as 
for  instance,  when  sickness  occurs,  when  friends 
arrive  unexpectedly,  when  a  dinner  party  is 
given? 

Sickness,  of  course,  is  unavoidable,  but  as  a 
rule  a  trained  nurse  or  an  extra  household  assist- 
ant is  called  in  to  help.  Many  times,  however, 
this  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  or  perhaps  the 
family  can  not  afford  to  have  outside  help,  and 
the  extra  work  caused  by  sickness  usually  falls 
upon  the  domestic  employee  whose  hours  of  labor 
are  more  or  less  prolonged  in  consequence. 
What  ought  to  be  done  in  such  an  event? 

There  is  but  one  answer :  Work  that  can  not  T)e 
accomplished  within  the  regular  working  hours 

81 


82  HOUSEWORK 

already    agreed    upon    should   be    paid    for    as 


When  it  is  a  question  of  work  being  prolonged 
beyond  the  eight  hours  a  day  by  the  entertain- 
ing of  friends,  one  can  only  say  that  this  ought 
not  to  happen  if  the  housewife  planned  her  work- 
ing schedule  carefully.  She  alone  is  responsible 
for  her  social  engagements;  she  alone  can  make 
a  schedule  that  will  enable  her  to  have  her  friends 
come  to  luncheon  or  dinner  without  prolonging 
the  day's  work  beyond  the  hours  agreed  upon  be- 
tween herself  and  her  employees. 

When  friends  arrive  unexpectedly,  however,  or 
when  a  dinner  party  or  a  big  social  function  takes 
place  in  the  home,  an  eight  hour  schedule  may 
be  the  cause  of  great  inconvenience,  unless  a 
previous  agreement  has  been  made  to  meet  just 
such  occasions.  It  is  certain  that  some  com- 
pensation is  due  to  all  domestic  employees  for 
the  extra  long  hours  of  work  caused  by  unusual 
events  in  the  home  life  of  their  employers,  and 
many  ways  have  been  devised  already  to  remu- 
nerate them. 

In  modern  social  life  a  custom  of  long  stand- 


EXTRA  PAY  83 

ing  still  exists  which  makes  it  almost  compul- 
sory for  this  remuneration  to  come  out  of  the 
pocket,  not  of  the  hostess,  but  of  her  guests. 
The  unfortunate  custom  of  giving  "  tips  "  is  not 
generally  criticised  very  openly,  but  when 
viewed  in  the  light  of  reason  and  justice,  it  seems 
to  be  a  very  poor  way  of  trying  to  remove  one 
of  the  present  hardships  connected  with  domestic 
labor.  Why  should  the  housewife  depend  upon 
the  generosity  of  her  guests  to  help  her  pay 
her  household  employees?  She  never  demurs 
at  the  extra  expense  entailed  in  giving  luncheons 
and  dinners  in  her  friends'  honor,  nor  in  taking 
them  to  places  of  interest  and  amusement.  Why 
then  should  she  object  to  giving  a  little  more 
money  to  her  household  employees  upon  whose 
work  the  success  of  her  hospitality  so  largely 
depends? 

There  are  many  women  who  entertain  exten- 
sively, but  they  never  recompense  a  household  em- 
ployee for  any  extra  work  that  may  be  demanded 
from  her  on  that  account.  They  consider  them- 
selves fully  justified  in  exacting  extra  long  hours 
of  work  because  of  the  high  wages  they  pay,  espe- 


84  HOUSEWORK 

daily  as  it  frequently  happens  that  while  the 
work  is  more  on  some  days,  it  is  less  on  others, 
and  they  think  in  consequence  that  their  em- 
ployees have  no  cause  for  complaint. 

It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  think  that  an  em- 
ployee who  is  obliged  to  be  on  duty  and  has  little 
or  nothing  to  do  on  one  day,  is  really  compen- 
sated for  the  extra  hours  of  work  she  has  been 
compelled  to  give  on  other  days.  A  saleswoman 
who  on  certain  days  has  no  customers  or  only  a 
few,  is  just  as  much  "  on  duly  "  as  if  her  work 
filled  all  her  time,  and  it  is  the  same  with  a  do- 
mestic employee.  Indeed  it  is  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  more  irksome  to  remain  idle  at  one's 
post  than  to  be  actively  engaged  in  work. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  house- 
wives who  feel  that  they  ought  to  give  their  em- 
ployees more  pay  for  extra  work  especially  when 
it  is  connected  with  the  entertaining  of  friends, 
and  the  following  ways  of  rewarding  them  have 
been  tried  with  more  or  less  success. 

One  plan  that  gained  favor  with  several  fami- 
lies was  to  give  ten  cents  to  the  cook  and  ten 


EXTRA  TAY  85 

cents  to  the  waitress  every  time  a  guest  was  in- 
vited to  a  meal:  ten  cents  for  each  guest.  At 
the  end  of  a  month  the  ten  cent  pieces  had 
amounted  to  quite  a  sum  of  money. 

Another  plan  that  was  tried  in  a  small  family 
was  to  give  fifty  cents  to  the  cook  and  fifty  cents 
to  each  of  the  two  waitresses  for  every  dinner 
party  that  took  place,  regardless  of  the  number 
of  guests.  Still  another  plan  was  to  give  at  the 
end  of  the  month,  a  two  dollar,  five  dollar,  or 
ten  dollar  bill  to  an  employee  who  had  given 
many  extra  hours  of  satisfactory  work  to  her  em- 
ployer. 

All  these  plans  are  good  in  a  certain  sense,  in- 
asmuch as  they  show  that  women  are  awaken- 
ing to  the  realization  that  some  compensation  is 
due  to  household  employees  for  the  extra  long 
hours  of  work  frequently  unavoidable  in  family 
life.  But  unfortunately  these  plans  lack  stabil- 
ity, for  they  depend  altogether  upon  the  gener- 
osity and  kindness  of  different  employers,  in- 
stead of  upon  a  just  and  firmly  established  busi- 
ness principle. 


86  HOUSEWORK 

And  now  comes  the  question:  What  method 
of  payment  for  overtime  will  produce  a  perma- 
nently satisfactory  result? 

The  only  one  that  appears  just  and  is  ap- 
plicable to  all  cases  is  to  pay  each  employee 
one  and  a  half  times  as  much  per  hour  for  extra 
work  as  for  regular  work.  In  this  way  each  em- 
ployee is  paid  for  overtime  in  just  proportion  to 
the  value  of  her  regular  services.  For  instance, 
when  a  household  employee  receives  $20,  $30,  or 
$40  per  month,  that  is  to  say  $5,  $7.50,  or  $10 
per  week,  for  working  eight  hours  a  day  and  six 
days  a  week,  she  is  receiving  approximately  10, 
15,  or  20  cents  per  hour  for  her  regular  work. 
By  giving  her  one  and  one  half  times  as  much  for 
extra  work,  she  ought  to  receive  15,  22%,  or  30 
cents  per  hour  for  every  hour  she  works  for  her 
employer  after  the  completion  of  her  regular 
eight  hours'  work. 

/  This  plan  has  never  failed  to  bring  satisfac- 
tion, and  it  has  the  advantage  of  placing  the  em- 
ployer and  the  employee  on  an  equally  delight- 
ful footing  of  independence.  The  performance 
of  extra  work  is  no  longer  regarded  as  a  matter 


EXTRA  PAY  87 

of  obligation  on  one  side,  and  of  concession  on 
the  other,  but  as  a  purely  business  transaction. 

Some  housewives  fear  that  the  regular  work 
would  be  intentionally  prolonged  beyond  all 
measure  if  it  became  an  established  rule  to  pay 
extra  for  work  performed  overtime.  This  could 
be  easily  checked,  however,  by  paying  extra  only 
for  work  that  was  necessitated  by  unusual  events 
in  the  family  life. 

In  families  where  only  one  employee  is  kept, 
naturally  the  occasions  for  asking  her  to  work 
overtime  arise  more  frequently  than  in  families 
where  there  are  two  or  more  employees,  especially 
if  there  be  small  children  in  the  family.  Yet 
these  occasions  need  not  come  very  often,  if  the 
housewife  bears  in  mind  that  even  with  only  one 
employee,  she  has  eight  hours  every  day  at  her 
own  disposal ;  she  ought  to  plan  her  outside 
engagements  accordingly.  Her  liberty  from 
household  cares  during  these  eight  hours  can  only 
be  gained  though  by  having  efficient  and  trust- 
worthy assistants  in  her  home,  and  she  can 
never  obtain  these  unless  she  abandons  her  old 
fashioned  methods  of  housekeeping.  She  must 


88  HOUSEWORK 

grant  to  household  employees  the  same  rights  and 
privileges  given  to  business  employees ;  she  must 
apply  business  principles  to  housework.  A 
great  power  lies  in  the  hands  of  the  modern 
housewife,  a  power  as  yet  only  suspected  by  a 
few,  which,  if  properly  wielded,  can  raise  house- 
work from  its  present  undignified  position  to  the 
place  it  ought  to  occupy,  and  that  is  in  the  fore- 
most rank  of  manual  labor  for  women. 


PAET  III 

EIGHT  HOUR  SCHEDULES  IN  THE 
HOME 

Eight  Lour  schedules  for  one  employee. 
Eight  hour  schedules  for  two  employees. 
Eight  hour  schedules  for  three  employees. 


EIGHT  HOUR  SCHEDULES  FOR  ONE 
EMPLOYEE 


EIGHT  HOUR  SCHEDULES  FOR  ONE  EMPLOYEE 

THE  schedules  given  in  the  following  pages 
have  been  in  actual  practice  for  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  to  prove  that  they  can  be  relied  on  to 
produce  satisfactory  results,  although  no  doubt 
many  housewives  will  find  that  some  of  them 
must  be  modified  to  meet  special  requirements 
in  their  homes. 

Two  very  important  points  must  always  be 
borne  in  mind  in  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage from  an  eight  hour  schedule,  especially 
in  families  where  only  one  employee  is  engaged 
to  do  the  housework. 

The  first  point  is  this:  the  liousewife  ought 
only  to  make  her  working  schedule  after  she  has 
carefully  studied  her  own  comfort  and  conveni- 
ence in  regard  to  the  hours  she  considers  the  most 
important  of  the  day  for  her  to  have  help  in  her 
housework. 

The  second  point  is  for  the  housewife  to  re- 

93 


94  HOUSEWORK 

serve  for  herself  the  entire  freedom  of  the  eight 
hours  during  which  her  employee  is  on  duty,  for 
then  she  can  place,  or  she  ought  to  be  able  to,  the 
full  responsibility  of  the  housekeeping  upon  her 
employee. 

By  adhering  strictly  to  these  two  points,  the 
housewife  will  soon  perceive  that  she  can  dis- 
pense with  the  services  of  her  employee  for  the 
remaining  hours  of  the  day  without  much  in- 
convenience to  herself  or  her  family.  She  may 
even  find  it  more  pleasant  than  otherwise  to  be 
relieved  from  the  sight  and  sound  of  household 
work,  for  at  least  a  few  hours  a  day,  when  she 
is  in  her  own  home. 

Possibly  the  housewife  who  has  but  one  em- 
ployee will  not  accept  with  alacrity  the  proposi- 
tion of  allowing  her  to  be  off  duty  for  an  entire 
day  once  a  week,  for  unless  she  be  willing  to  do 
the  necessary  work  herself  on  that  day,  she  must 
engage  a  special  person  to  take  the  place  of  her 
regular  employee.  But  many  families  engage  a 
woman  to  come  once  a  week  to  help  with  the 
washing  and  housecleaning,  especially  when  they 
have  only  one  household  employee.  If  this 


SCHEDULES  FOR  ONE  EMPLOYEE         95 

woman  came  on  the  clay  the  regular  employee 
was  away,  she  could  relieve  the  housewife  of  all 
the  housework  that  could  not  be  postponed  until 
the  next  day. 


SCHEDULE  NO.   I 

When  only  one  employee  is  engaged  in  a  pri- 
vate home,  her  services  are  needed  more  at  meal 
time  than  at  any  other  time  of  the  day,  especially 
if  small  children  are  in  the  family.  As  the  hours 
for  the  three  principal  meals  are  about  the  same 
everywhere,  the  following  schedule  is  a  very  use- 
ful one. 

From  7  A.  M,  to  10  A.  M.  3  hours 
From  12  M.  to  3  P.  M.  3  hours 
From  6  p.  M.  to  8  P.  M.  2  hours 


8  hours 

In  the  morning  from  seven  to  ten  o'clock,  the 
employee  had  ample  time  to  prepare  and  serve 
breakfast  and  wash  up  the  dishes  afterwards,  and 
do  the  charnberwork.  The  three  hours  from 
noon  until  three  o'clock  wrere  filled  with  duties 
that  varied  considerably  each  day.  Luncheon 

96 


SCHEDULES  FOR  ONE  EMPLOYEE          07 

was  served  at  one  o'clock ;  it  was  but  a  light  meal 
easy  to  cook  and  easy  to  serve,  therefore  the  time 
from  two  to  three  o'clock  was  usually  devoted  to 
ironing,  or  mending,  or  cleaning  silver,  or  polish- 
ing brasses,  or  preparing  some  of  the  dishes  in 
advance  either  for  dinner  that  evening  or  for 
luncheon  the  next  day.  Two  hours  were  suffi- 
cient to  cook  and  serve  dinner  and  wash  up  the 
dishes  afterwards.  A  woman  came  once  a  week, 
on  the  day  the  employee  was  oft0  duty,  to  do  the 
family  washing  and  assist  with  the  general  house- 
work. She  also  did  some  of  the  ironing ;  the  rest 
of  the  ironing  was  done  the  next  day  by  the  regu- 
lar employee. 

This  schedule  has  been  tested,  not  merely  once 
for  a  few  months,  but  several  times,  and  not  with 
the  same  employee,  but  with  different  employees, 
and  it  has  always  been  most  satisfactory. 

It  may  seem  doubtful  to  those  who  have  never 
had  their  housework  done  on  schedule  time  that 
the  work  can  be  completed  in  the  time  stated,  but 
the  greatest  incentive  that  an  employee  can  have 
to  work  quickly  and  well,  is  to  know  that  her 
position  is  as  good  as  any  she  can  find  else- 


98  HOUSEWORK 

where,  and  that  when  her  work  is  over  she  is  free 
to  do  exactly  as  she  pleases  with  the  remainder 
of  her  time. 


SCHEDULE   NO.   II 

The  following  schedule  is  very  different  from 
the  preceding  one,  inasmuch  as  the  housewife  did 
not  consider  it  necessary  for  her  employee  to  be 
on  duty  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  There  were 
no  children  in  this  family  and  as  the  housewife 
was  alone  in  the  day  time,  she  very  frequently 
went  out  for  luncheon.  She  concluded  there- 
fore that  it  was  the  best  time  of  the  day  for  her 
to  dispense  witji  the  services  of  her  employee, 
whose  working  hours  were  arranged  thus: 

From  7 :30  A.  M.  to  11 :30  A.  M.     4  hours 
From  4 :30  P.  M.  to     8 :30  p.  M.     4  hours 


8  hours 

By  half  past  eleven  in  the  morning,  all  the 
usual  housework  was  finished,  and  the  employee 
went  home;  she  returned  at  half  past  four  in 
the  afternoon,  in  time  to  attend  to  five  o'clock 

99 


100  HOUSEWORK 

tea  and  dinner.  Once  a  week,  on  alternate  Sat- 
urdays and  Sundays,  she  had  a  "  day  of  rest." 
On  these  days  the  housewife  got  breakfast  ready 
herself,  after  which  she  did  as  much  or  as  little 
of  the  regular  work  as  she  chose.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  reduce  housework  to  a  minimum  on 
special  occasions.  The  family,  which  was  a 
small  one,  consisting  of  three  adults,  usually 
went  out  to  dinner  on  these  alternate  Saturdays 
and  Sundays. 


SCHEDULE   NO.   Ill 

In  this  schedule,  the  employee's  work  is  di- 
vided into  two  periods,  with  one  hour  for  rest 
between.  The  family  consisted  of  a  man  and 
his  wife,  who  lived  in  an  apartment.  The  hours 
of  work  were  as  follows : 

From   12  M.       to  3  P.  M.          3  hours 
From     4  p.  M.    to  9  p.  M.  5  hours 


8  hours 

The  housewife  was  very  fond  of  entertaining, 
and  she  chose  an  employee  who  was  an  excellent 
cook  and  a  very  good  waitress.  In  consequence 
she  wras  able  to  place  the  entire  responsibility  of 
luncheons  and  dinners  on  her,  and  on  days  when 
no  guests  were  present  all  the  house-cleaning 
was  done.  As  the  employee  did  not  report 
on  duty  before  noon,  the  housewife  was  obliged 
to  get  breakfast  herself.  However  this  was  a 

101 


102"  HOUSEWORK 

very  simple  matter,  for  her  employee  always  set 
the  table  for  breakfast  the  night  before.  The 
next  morning  it  was  very  easy  for  the  housewife, 
with  the  aid  of  an  electric  heater  on  the  break- 
fast table,  to  heat  the  cereal,  boil  the  wrater  for 
the  coffee,  and  broil  the  bacon  or  scramble  the 
eggs,  or  indeed  to  prepare  any  of  the  usual  break- 
fast dishes. 

The  employee  did  all  the  washing,  ironing  and 
mending  each  week,  and  although  she  came  to 
her  work  only  at  noon,  she  accomplished  as  much 
work  during  her  eight  hours  as  if  she  began 
earlier  in  the  day. 


SCHEDULE  NO.   IV 

Many  schedules  were  tried  before  a  really  sat- 
isfactory one  was  finally  chosen  for  a  family  of 
six:  mother,  father,  four  small  children.  The 
eldest  child  was  seven  years  old,  and  there  was 
only  one  household  employee  to  help  with  the 
work.  They  lived  in  the  country,  and  breakfast 
had  to  be  served  promptly  at  7:30  A.  M.,  on  ac- 
count of  taking  the  early  morning  train  to  town. 

Naturally,  with  only  one  employee,  the  house- 
wife was  compelled  to  do  some  of  the  housework 
herself,  and  until  the  following  schedule  was 
adopted,  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  rising  early, 
dressing  the  children,  and  getting  breakfast 
ready  herself.  Her  employee  arrived  later  in  the 
day  and  remained  until  after  dinner  at  night. 
The  comfort  and  general  welfare  of  the  mother 
were  increased  to  such  a  remarkable  degree  by 
the  new  schedule,  however,  that  it  is  well  worth 
special  attention. 

103 


104  HOUSEWORK 

The  hours  were  as  follows : 

From    6 :30  A.  M.  to  10 :30  A.  M.      4  hours 
From  11 :30  A.  M.  to    3 :30  P.  M.       4  hours 


8  hours 

Immediately  upon  arriving  at  the  house,  the 
employee  went  to  the  children  and  took  complete 
charge  of  all  of  them.  The  two  oldest  dressed 
themselves,  but  of  course  the  other  two  required 
help.  After  dressing  them,  she  prepared  break- 
fast. The  cereal  was  always  cooked  the  day  be- 
fore, and  as  a  gas  stove  was  used  for  cooking 
purposes,  it  was  not  hard  to  have  breakfast 
ready  promptly  every  morning  at  7 :30.  Then 
the  employee,  having  had  her  own  breakfast  be- 
fore leaving  her  home,  worked  steadily  until 
10 :30  A.  M.  During  this  time,  the  only  work  the 
mother  felt  she  ought  to  do  was  to  go  out  with 
her  two  youngest  children;  the  other  two  went 
to  school.  She  was  always  home  again  by  10 :30, 
when  her  employee  stopped  working.  The  em- 
ployee lived  too  far  away  to  go  home  for  lunch, 
and  as  there  was  no  place  in  the  neighborhood 


SCHEDULES  FOR  ONE  EMPLOYEE       105 

where  she  could  go  for  lunch,  she  always  brought 
it  with  her  and  ate  it  in  her  employer's  house. 
During  the  hour  she  was  off  duty,  the  mother 
attended  to  some  household  duties  herself,  and 
she  also  bathed  the  two  children,  and  put  them 
to  bed  for  their  morning  nap. 

At  11 :30,  her  employee  reappeared  on  duty, 
and  took  full  charge  of  the  house  and  children 
until  3 :30  P.  M. ;  her  work  for  the  day  was  then 
over  and  she  went  home. 

This  schedule  makes  the  mother  stay  home 
after  half  past  three,  but  by  that  time  all  the 
real  housework  had  been  done  by  her  employee. 
To  give  the  children  their  supper  and  to  put 
them  to  bed  leisurely,  was  much  easier  work 
than  to  rise  early  and  dress  them  hurriedly  in 
the  morning,  and  to  get  breakfast  ready  for  the 
entire  family.  It  was  not  much  trouble  to  get 
dinner  herself  in  the  evening  for  her  husband 
and  herself  only.  The  house  was  quiet,  the 
children  asleep,  and  there  was  no  necessity  of 
hurrying  as  in  the  morning.  When  she  wished 
to  give  a  dinner  party,  or  to  receive  her  friends, 
or  to  go  to  any  entertainment  in  the  afternoon 


106  HOUSEWORK 

after  3:30,  she  asked  her  employee  to  give  her 
extra  hours  of  work  for  which  she  paid  extra. 
Once  a  week  her  employee  had  a  "  day  of  rest/' 
and  on  this  day  another  woman  was  engaged  to 
take  her  place. 

This  schedule  enabled  the  mother  to  have 
many  hours  each  day  absolutely  free  from  the 
children  and  household  cares. 


EIGHT  HOUK  SCHEDULES  FOR  TWO 
EMPLOYEES 


EIGHT   HOUR   SCHEDULES  FOR  TWO  EMPLOYEES 

IT  is  much  easier  to  plan  an  eight  hour  sched- 
ule for  two  employees  than  for  one,  and  there 
is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  different  ways  in 
which  the  sixteen  hours  of  work  may  be  di- 
vided, subdivided,  and  arranged  to  please  the 
individual  housewife.  With  two  employees,  it 
is  no  longer  necessary  for  the  housewife  to  re- 
main at  home  while  one  is  off  duty,  even  for  an 
hour,  for  one  relieves  the  other  without  any 
cessation  of  work.  Even  on  the  seventh  day, 
"  the  day  of  rest,"  the  housewife  can  always  ar- 
range to  have  her  work  done  without  doing  it 
herself,  in  spite  of  the  absence  of  one  of  her  em- 
ployees. 

When  a  schedule  is  finally  agreed  upon,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  rigidly  enforced,  for  it  is  more 
important  to  keep  to  the  hours  specified  when 
there  are  two  employees  than  when  there  is  only 
one.  Although  the  housewife  may  be  tempted 

109 


110  HOUSEWORK 

to  claim  the  privilege  of  changing  her  hours  very 
often  to  please  herself,  since  she  is  the  employer, 
if  she  value  her  peace  of  mind,  she  will  refrain 
from  doing  it.  Only  when  the  inevitable,  the 
unforeseen,  occurs  should  she  make  a  change  in 
her  regular  schedule.  When  one  employee  is  off 
duty  all  day,  the  other  employee  can  remain  on 
duty  the  entire  day;  naturally  this  plan  necessi- 
tates more  than  eight  hours  of  work  on  that  day, 
probably  two  or  three  more  hours,  but  if  on  the 
day  after  or  the  day  before,  the  employee  be  al- 
lowed to  work  two  or  three  hours  less  than  eight 
horn's,  the  average  of  eight  hours  a  day  and  six 
days  a  week  is  maintained. 

Another  example  of  what  the  housewife  can  do 
when  one  of  her  employees  is  off  duty  the  entire 
day,  is  to  make  her  other  employee  follow  sched- 
ule No.  1.  This  enables  her  to  keep  to  eight 
hours  a  day  and  at  the  same  time  the  housewife 
does  none  of  the  housework  herself. 


SCHEDULE  NO.   V 

With  two  employees  it  is  a  wise  plan  to  ar- 
range a  schedule  that  makes  the  work  of  one 
employee  commence  the  moment  the  work  of 
the  other  ceases.  This  tends  to  promote  punc- 
tuality without  requiring  special  supervision  on 
the  part  of  the  housewife. 

The  following  schedule  is  admirably  adapted 
to  the  every  day  life  of  the  average  family  with 
two  employees: 


First  Employee 
From    7  A.  M.  to  11  A.  M. 
From  12  M.       to     4  p.  M. 


Second  Employee 
From  11  A.  M.  to  3  p.  M. 
From     4  p.  M.  to  8  p.  M. 

Ill 


4  hours 
4  hours 

8  hours 


4  hours 
4  hours 

8  hours 


112  HOUSEWORK 

All  the  washing,  ironing,  and  mending  of  the 
family  were  done  by  the  two  employees,  and  they 
also  took  care  of  the  children  when  necessary. 
Besides  being  good  cooks,  they  were  both  excel- 
lent waitresses ;  in  consequence  it  made  no  differ- 
ence which  one  was  on  duty  at  meal  time. 

One  employee  only  was  in  charge  of  breakfast; 
she  came  a.t  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
worked  steadily  until  eleven  oclock,  when  the 
second  employee  arrived.  She  then  went  out  for 
her  lunch,  returning  at  twelve,  and  remaining  on 
duty  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  She 
was  then  free  for  the  remainder  of  the  day. 

The  second  employee,  as  soon  as  she  arrived 
at  11  A.  M.y  went  through  the  house  and  finished 
any  work  that  was  not  completed  by  the  first  em- 
ployee. She  worked  without  stopping  until  3 
p.  M.,  then  went  away  for  her  lunch ;  she  returned 
at  4  p.  M.  to  relieve  the  first  employee  whose  work 
was  over  at  four  o'clock.  The  second  employee 
remained  on  duty  until  8  p.  M. ;  she  cooked  and 
served  dinner  so  quickly  and  efficiently  that  the 
housewife  who  had  always  been  accustomed  to 
have  two  employees,  a  "  cook  "  and  a  "  waitress/' 


SCHEDULES  FOR  TWO  EMPLOYEES    113 

on  duty  for  dinner  every  night,  found  to  her 
great  surprise  that  one  efficient  household  em- 
ployee, working  on  schedule  time,  accomplished 
in  the  same  time  the  work  of  two  of  her  former 
"  servants." 


SCHEDULE   NO.   VI 

In  this  schedule  the  housewife  wanted  both  her 
employees  to  help  her  with  her  two  children. 
With  this  end  in  view,  she  made  all  the  work 
of  the  house  interchange  with  the  care  of  the 
children ;  in  consequence  when  one  employee  was 
off  duty,  the  other  could  always  be  relied  on  to 
help  with  the  children.  This  proved  to  be  a 
very  successful  schedule,  for  it  relieved  the 
mother  from  being  obliged  to  sit  in  the  nursery 
as  she  was  compelled  to  do  every  time  her  former 
"  nurse  "  went  downstairs  to  her  meals,  or  had 
her  "  afternoon  off."  But  when  the  mother 
wished  to  be  with  her  children,  and  that  was 
very  often,  the  employee  who  was  in  the  nursery 
at  the  time,  left  the  room  immediately  to  attend 
to  other  household  duties. 

Both  employees  were  on  duty  at  7  A.  M.,  a 
most  necessary  arrangement  where  there  are 
small  children  in  a  family.  The  first  employee 

114 


SCHEDULES  FOR  TWO  EMPLOYEES     115 

prepared  and  served  breakfast  for  the  family, 
while  the  other  employee  took  full  charge  of  the 
children,  giving  them  their  breakfast  in  the  nurs- 
ery, and  taking  them  out  afterwards  for  a 
walk.  At  10  A.  M.,  she  returned  with  the  chil- 
dren, and  she  was  then  off  duty  for  two  hours. 
The  mother  generally  chose  this  time  to  be  with 
her  children;  if  however,  she  had  any  other  en- 
gagement, the  first  employee  was  on  duty  until 
noon  and  could  be  called  upon  to  look  after 
them. 


First  Employee 

From   7  A.  M.  to  12  M. 
From   5   P.  M.  .to     8  P.  M. 


Second  Employee 

From    7  A.  M.  to  10  A.  M. 
From  12  M.       to    5  P.  M. 


5  hours 
3  hours 

8  hours 


3  hours 
5  hours 

8  hours 


SCHEDULE  NO.   VII 

There  are  many  families  who  may  object  to 
all  the  preceding  schedules  on  account  of  the 
early  hour  in  the  evening  for  household  em- 
ployees to  be  off  duty.  When  the  housewife  has 
never  had  her  housework  done  on  schedule  time 
by  an  efficient  employee,  she  may  well  think  it 
impossible  to  have  the  dinner  dishes  washed  up 
and  everything  put  away  in  order  by  8  P.  M. 
However  some  families  do  not  begin  dinner  be- 
fore half  past  seven,  or  eight  o'clock,  or  even 
later,  but  in  these  families,  it  is  not  unusual  for 
the  breakfast  hour  to  be  very  late  also.  In  con- 
sequence nothing  is  easier  than  to  make  a 
schedule  for  the  day's  work  begin  late  and  end 
late,  without  making  any  other  alteration  in  it. 

The  following  schedule,  however,  combines  an 
early  breakfast  and  a  late  dinner,  in  a  family 
where  only  two  employees  were  kept: 

116 


SCHEDULES  FOR  TWO  EMPLOYEES    117 


First  Employee 
From  7  A.  M.  to  12  M. 
From  5   P.  M.  to     8  P,  M. 


Second  Employee 
From  12  M.      to    5  P.  M. 
From    7  P.  M.  to  10  P.  M. 
(or  from  8  to  11  P.  M.) 


5  hours 
3  hours 

8  hours 


5  hours 
3  hours 


8  hours 


EIGHT  HOUR  SCHEDULES  FOE  THREE 
EMPLOYEES 


EIGHT    HOUR   SCHEDULES    FOR   THREE    EMPLOYEES 

THE  greater  the  number  of  household  em- 
ployees, the  easier  it  is  to  make  a  satisfactory 
working  schedule.  But  the  temptation  to  spe- 
cialize the  work  is  greater,  and  should  be  care- 
fully guarded  against.  It  is  just  as  necessary 
with  three  employees  as  with  one  for  the  house- 
wife to  insist  that  each  one  be  capable  and  will- 
ing to  do  all  kinds  of  work  in  the  home,  includ- 
ing sewing  and  taking  care  of  children. 

With  three  employees,  the  housewife  ought  to 
make  them  take  turns  in  cooking  and  serving  one 
of  the  three  meals  each  day.  This  enables  them 
to  become  familiar  with  the  dining  room  and  with 
the  different  dishes  for  each  course;  it  also  re- 
moves any  feeling  of  embarrassment  which 
naturally  might  be  felt  by  an  employee  who  is 
rarely  called  upon  to  cook  or  serve  a  meal. 

To  have  an  expert  needlewoman  in  the  house 
is  a  great  boon  to  the  housewife,  and  when  she 

121 


122  HOUSEWORK 

lias  three  employees  who  can  sew  in  her  home, 
she  ought  to  insist  upon  a  great  deal  of  sewing 
and  mending  being  done  by  each  one  of  them. 

It  is  rare  that  the  "  servant "  of  to-day  is  a 
good  sewer ;  in  fact  the  housewife  would  hesitate 
to  ask  her  to  do  even  the  ordinary  mending,  but 
when  one  engages  household  employees  on  an 
eight  hour  schedule,  and  when  there  are  a  hun- 
dred women  to  choose  from,  it  is  not  hard  to  find 
several  who  sew  well. 


SCHEDULE  NO.  VIII 

It  is  so  easy  to  plan  the  housework  for  three 
employees  that  one  schedule  as  an  example  seems 
quite  sufficient,  and  the  only  thing  that  the 
housewife  must  remember  is  to  make  all  the 
work  interchangeable. 

First  Employee 

From    7  A.  M.  to  11  A.  M.  4  hours 

From  12  M.       to     4  p.  M.  4  hours 


Second  Employee 
From   11  A.  M.  to  3  P.  M. 
From     4  p.  M.  to  8  p.  M. 


Third  Employee 
From  2  p.  M  to     5  P.  M. 
From  6  P.  M.  to  11  p.  M. 

123 


8  hours 

4  hours 

4  hours 

8  hours 

3  hours 

5  hours 

8  hours 


CONCLUSION 

IN  conclusion  it  seems  that  a  few  words  are 
necessary  about  families  who'  need  the  services 
of  an  employee  at  night  as  well  as  in  the  clay 
time.  There  are  many  mothers  who  do  not  wish 
or  who  are  not  able  to  take  care  of  their  children 
at  night,  and  in  consequence  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  have  an  attendant.  The  present 
custom  is  to  have  the  nurse  or  maid  sleep  in  the 
same  room  as  the  baby,  or  in  a  room  adjoining 
the  children's  bedroom,  so  as  to  be  within  call. 
But  a  woman  who  has  worked  all  day,  or  even 
eight  hours  a  day,  should  not  have  her  sleep  dis- 
turbed at  night  by  taking  care  of  children.  No 
woman  can  be  fit  for  her  work  the  next  day  if 
she  has  not  been  able  to  secure  the  average 
amount  of  sleep  necessary  to  health. 

In  many  cases  it  has  been  proved  that  when  a 
child  does  not  sleep  well  at  night,  the  nurse  has 
taken  upon  herself  the  responsibility  of  giving 

124 


CONCLUSION  125 

it  "soothing  syrup"  so  as  to  keep  it  quiet, 
This  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  when  one  con- 
siders the  strain  under  which  the  nurse  is  kept 
day  and  night  by  taking  care  of  a  small  child; 
besides  the  average  nurse  is  generally  ignorant 
of  the  harm  caused  by  so-called  "  soothing 
syrups." 

If  a  child  be  sick,  the  mother  should  call  in 
a  trained  nurse,  that  is  if  she  can  afford  it,  and 
when  she  has  several  employees,  she  can  usually 
afford  this  extra  expense.  If  the  child  or  chil- 
dren be  well,  and  the  mother  desires  some  one  to 
attend  to  them  at  night,  she  should  engage  a 
woman  who  has  no  occupation  during  the  day 
and  who  is  willing  to  work  at  night.  She  should 
make  a  point  of  choosing  one  who  sews  well,  so 
that  the  services  of  a  seamstress  might  be  com- 
bined with  the  duties  of  a  night  nurse.  There 
is  always  some  mending  to  do  in  all  families  and 
a  wroman  who  is  clever  with  her  needle  might 
make  herself  very  useful  to  her  employer. 
Thousands  of  women  sew  by  artificial  light  in 
dressmaking  establishments  and  factories ;  in  all 
probability  just  as  many  women  could  be  found 


126  HOUSEWORK 

to  sew  by  artificial  light  in  private  homes.  Per- 
haps at  first  the  novelty  of  working  at  night 
might  deter  women  from  taking  a  position  sim- 
ilar to  the  one  suggested  above,  but  a  woman  who 
was  really  in  need  of  work  would  not  let  the  un- 
usual hours  prevent  her  from  accepting  it, 

Many  men  work  at  night  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  many  women  would  be  willing  to  do  it  too. 
Women  are  not  as  timid  as  they  were  reputed  to 
be  in  former  years ;  they  would  neither  scream 
nor  faint  nowadays  at  the  sight  of  a  little  mouse 
scampering  across  the  floor.  Indeed  quite  re- 
cently the  newspapers  reported  that  a  woman 
whose  husband  had  just  died  had  accepted  the 
position  of  a  night  watchman,  and  she  filled  her 
new  role  so  successfully  that  on  one  occasion  she 
managed  to  seize  a  burglar  and  handed  him  over 
to  a  policeman. 

This  proposition  of  engaging  a  woman  to  work 
at  night  is  only  a  suggestion,  however,  offered  to 
those  who  find  it  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a 
domestic  employee  in  their  house  at  night.  It 
remains  to  be  proved  if  it  could  be  carried  out 
successfully. 


CONCLUSION  127 

But  the  great  changes  in  housekeeping  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  chapters  are  not  mere 
suggestions  nor  theories  of  what  might  be  done : 
each  reform  has  already  been  put  into  actual 
practice.  The  result  has  been  so  extraordinary 
that  one  is  impelled  to  believe  that  the  only  way 
to  solve  the  Servant  Problem  is  to  apply  busi- 
ness principles  to  housework  in  private  homes. 

Naturally  such  a  revolution  from  methods 
now  in  vogue  can  not  be  wrought  in  a  day,  and 
the  transitional  period  may  be  one  of  some  diffi- 
culty and  confusion  for  employer  and  employee 
alike  who  have  spent  a  large  portion  of  their 
lives  under  the  old  regime.  But  the  revolution 
is  imperative,  and  the  ultimate  benefit  beyond 
calculation. 


THE   END 


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